DNB Asset Management AS Boosts Stake in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• DNB Asset Management AS increased its Cintas stake by 16% in the fourth quarter, adding 16,117 shares to bring its total holdings to 117,145 shares worth about $22.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with recent upgrades from Argus and Robert W. Baird offset by cuts from Stifel Nicolaus and Citigroup; MarketBeat’s consensus rating on Cintas is currently Hold with an average target price of $215.17.
• Cintas reported solid quarterly results and continued shareholder returns, posting EPS of $1.24 in line with estimates and revenue of $2.84 billion, while also ঘোষণাing a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share to be paid June 15.

DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,145 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,117 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS's holdings in Cintas were worth $22,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTAS. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 99,876 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $20,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 413,665 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $84,909,000 after purchasing an additional 10,249 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cintas during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,312,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $7,994,594,000 after buying an additional 564,487 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Cintas during the 4th quarter valued at $15,736,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Cintas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $215.17.

Cintas Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Cintas stock opened at $168.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 2.96 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.16 and a 1 year high of $229.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $177.74 and a 200 day moving average of $185.75.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cintas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. This trade represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company insiders.

About Cintas

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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