Harfst & Associates Inc. Buys Shares of 3,394 Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Key Points

• Harfst & Associates Inc. acquired 3,394 shares of Cintas Corporation, valued at approximately $698,000, during the first quarter.
• Cintas reported a 17.53% net margin and an 8% revenue growth year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.09 for the last quarter.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 0.8%.

Harfst & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,394 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Cintas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,877,760,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cintas by 19,644.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,263,091 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $465,133,000 after buying an additional 2,251,629 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cintas by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,859,304 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,781,223,000 after buying an additional 491,307 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Cintas by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,067,037 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $743,048,000 after buying an additional 472,069 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Cintas by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,228,609 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $407,163,000 after buying an additional 468,950 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cintas Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CTAS traded down $4.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $216.55. 1,398,396 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,365,709. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $220.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $87.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.03. Cintas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $180.78 and a fifty-two week high of $229.24.

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

Cintas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Cintas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Cintas's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 5,084 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.47, for a total value of $1,136,121.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,904,049.15. The trade was a 18.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd M. Schneider sold 17,301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.90, for a total value of $3,821,790.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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. Corporate insiders own 15.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CTAS shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cintas from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Cintas in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cintas from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $196.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Cintas in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $239.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cintas from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cintas has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $224.54.

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.