Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. Sells 5,843 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• Bristol Gate Capital Partners reduced its Cintas stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,843 shares and leaving it with 374,391 shares worth about $70.4 million.
• Insider selling and mixed analyst views were also highlighted: director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares, while analysts currently split on the stock with a consensus rating of “Hold” and a $215.17 price target.
• Cintas reported solid quarterly results, matching EPS estimates at $1.24 and topping revenue expectations at $2.84 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share payable June 15.

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 374,391 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,843 shares during the period. Cintas makes up 4.1% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. owned 0.09% of Cintas worth $70,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cintas by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,994,594,000 after acquiring an additional 564,487 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Cintas by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,729,394 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $517,466,000 after acquiring an additional 158,785 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Cintas by 0.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,559,852 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $524,460,000 after acquiring an additional 12,841 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Cintas by 39.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,223,411 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $442,548,000 after acquiring an additional 623,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Cintas by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,002,205 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $376,647,000 after acquiring an additional 181,952 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTAS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cintas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Cintas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $215.17.

Cintas Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $172.93 on Friday. Cintas Corporation has a 52-week low of $161.16 and a 52-week high of $229.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.28. The company has a market capitalization of $69.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.85, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.96.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Cintas's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.85%.

Cintas Company Profile

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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