Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 1,883 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 39.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,604 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Cintas were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in Cintas in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cintas by 136.8% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Cintas by 239.3% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Cintas in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Cintas in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Cintas from $200.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Cintas from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $171.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Cintas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cintas currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $215.81.

Cintas Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CTAS traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $222.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,313. The stock has a market cap of $89.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $214.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.71. Cintas Co. has a 52 week low of $170.93 and a 52 week high of $229.24.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. Cintas had a net margin of 17.23% and a return on equity of 40.62%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.84 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Cintas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total value of $1,780,548.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,647,979.84. The trade was a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total transaction of $380,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 256,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,835,235.36. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cintas Company Profile

Cintas Corporation engages in the provision of corporate identity uniforms and related business services primarily in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Uniform Rental and Facility Services, First Aid and Safety Services, and All Other segments. The company rents and services uniforms and other garments, including flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and other ancillary items; and provides restroom cleaning services and supplies, as well as sells uniforms.