Cintas Corporation $CTAS Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Cintas stake by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 33,353 shares but still holding 2.33 million shares valued at about $437.7 million.
• Insider and institutional activity remained active: Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares, while institutional investors such as Vanguard, Nordea, and Amundi increased holdings. Institutions and hedge funds now own 63.46% of Cintas stock.
• Cintas reported Q3 earnings in line with expectations, posting $1.24 EPS on $2.84 billion in revenue, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, equal to a 1.0% annual yield.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,327,098 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 33,353 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.58% of Cintas worth $437,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cintas by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in Cintas by 6.2% during the 4th 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. grew its holdings in Cintas by 0.5% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in Cintas by 39.0% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in Cintas by 10.0% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. 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 report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cintas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $215.17.

Cintas Price Performance

CTAS stock opened at $172.93 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.23. Cintas Corporation has a 12 month low of $161.16 and a 12 month high of $229.24. The company has a market cap of $69.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.96. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Cintas's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

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