Cintas Corporation $CTAS Shares Bought by DnB Asset Management AS

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Cintas Corporation by 96.1% in Q1, owning 141,583 shares worth approximately $29.1 million.
• Cintas Corporation reported a net margin of 17.53% and a return on equity of 41.21%, with Q1 revenue up 8% year-over-year at $2.67 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.39, effective September 15th.

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 96.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 141,583 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 69,390 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Cintas were worth $29,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CTAS. Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new position in Cintas in the first quarter valued at about $5,257,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 385,773 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $79,288,000 after acquiring an additional 13,850 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cintas by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 738,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,922,000 after purchasing an additional 122,873 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cintas by 2.3% during the first quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cintas by 1.6% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,503 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,585,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CTAS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cintas from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cintas from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cintas from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $196.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Cintas from $233.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $224.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cintas news, Director Martin Mucci purchased 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $222.55 per share, for a total transaction of $267,060.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $583,303.55. This represents a 84.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Todd M. Schneider sold 17,301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.90, for a total transaction of $3,821,790.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 622,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,557,080.80. This represents a 2.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cintas Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of CTAS traded down $0.71 on Tuesday, hitting $202.07. 1,875,942 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,719,661. Cintas Corporation has a 1 year low of $180.78 and a 1 year high of $229.24. The stock's 50 day moving average is $217.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The business services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Cintas had a net margin of 17.53% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.99 EPS. Cintas's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Cintas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.710-4.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cintas Corporation will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Cintas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Cintas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.82%.

Cintas 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.