Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Cintas has an average analyst rating of “Hold” from 14 brokerage firms, with a mixed split of one sell, seven holds, five buys, and one strong buy. The consensus 1-year price target is $211.25.
• Recent analyst actions were mostly cautious: Bank of America and Stifel Nicolaus cut their price targets and kept neutral/hold views, while UBS maintained a buy rating and Robert W. Baird upgraded the stock to outperform.
• The stock recently traded around $180.17, down 0.9% for the session, while Cintas also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share for an annualized yield of about 1.0%.

Shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $211.25.

CTAS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cintas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cintas from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total value of $834,607.42. Following the sale, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 14.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cintas by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,311,491 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,879,632,000 after purchasing an additional 210,477 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cintas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,293,485 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,746,453,000 after purchasing an additional 97,220 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cintas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $923,672,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Cintas by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,393,116 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $826,214,000 after buying an additional 36,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,729,394 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $517,466,000 after buying an additional 158,785 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cintas Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Cintas stock opened at $180.17 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $173.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.90, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.94. Cintas has a 1-year low of $161.16 and a 1-year high of $226.75.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Cintas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.85%.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation NASDAQ: CTAS is a provider of business services and products focused on workplace appearance, safety and facility maintenance. The company is best known for its uniform rental and corporate apparel programs, which include rental, leasing and direct-purchase options, laundering and garment repair. Cintas markets its services to a wide range of end-users, including manufacturing, food service, healthcare, hospitality, retail and government customers.

Beyond uniforms, Cintas offers a suite of facility services and products designed to help organizations maintain clean, safe and compliant workplaces.

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