Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Cintas, with eight buy ratings, one strong-buy, five holds, and one sell among 15 firms. The average 12-month price target is $212.31.
• Cintas exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.29 in EPS and $2.91 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 8.9% year over year. Analysts project $5.49 in EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Institutional investors own 63.46% of Cintas, with major firms including BlackRock and Norges Bank recently establishing substantial positions. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.52 per share, implying a 1.1% yield.

Shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $212.3077.

CTAS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $231.00 price objective on shares of Cintas in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cintas from $200.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target (up from $228.00) on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Cintas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cintas in the second quarter worth about $4,520,425,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 97,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cintas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $923,672,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cintas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $644,334,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cintas by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,438,568 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $458,622,000 after purchasing an additional 50,838 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cintas Price Performance

NASDAQ CTAS opened at $196.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $202.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.64. Cintas has a 52-week low of $161.16 and a 52-week high of $219.16. The company has a market cap of $78.89 billion, a PE ratio of 52.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.91.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The business services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 42.05%. Cintas's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Cintas has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.360-5.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cintas will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This is a boost from Cintas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cintas's payout ratio is currently 55.61%.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation is a provider of workplace products and services for businesses across North America. The company helps organizations manage employee appearance, workplace cleanliness, safety, and compliance through a range of recurring service programs.

Its offerings include uniform rental and workwear, branded apparel, entrance mats, restroom supplies, and facility cleaning services. Cintas also provides first-aid and safety products, training, and fire protection services, including inspection and maintenance programs for fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, alarms, and related equipment.

Headquartered in Mason, Ohio, Cintas traces its roots to a family-operated industrial laundry business established by Richard T.

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