Cerity Partners LLC Sells 17,625 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC reduced its Cintas stake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 17,625 shares and ending with 178,020 shares valued at about $33.48 million.
• Other institutional investors also adjusted positions, and 63.46% of Cintas shares are held by institutions, while insiders own 14.90%.
• Cintas reported quarterly EPS of $1.24, matching estimates, on revenue of $2.84 billion, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share payable June 15.

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,020 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,625 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Cintas were worth $33,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 101.1% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 469,981 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $89,099,000 after acquiring an additional 236,329 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in Cintas by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,546 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Cintas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 111 Capital grew its position in Cintas by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. 111 Capital now owns 3,756 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its position in Cintas by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 31,203 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,868,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cintas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their target price 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. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cintas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cintas currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $215.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total value of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cintas Stock Performance

CTAS opened at $180.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $72.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.96, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. Cintas Corporation has a 1-year low of $161.16 and a 1-year high of $226.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

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

Cintas Dividend Announcement

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

Cintas 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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