Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $1.31 Million Stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 53.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,376 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,224 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Cintas were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Cintas in the first quarter valued at $270,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 468,950 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter worth about $284,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Cintas by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 170,182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,092,000 after purchasing an additional 18,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in Cintas by 3.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 60,099 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,327,000 after buying an additional 2,191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTAS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Cintas from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cintas from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Cintas in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $239.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus raised Cintas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $224.54.

Insider Activity

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

Cintas Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS opened at $225.09 on Tuesday. Cintas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $180.78 and a fifty-two week high of $229.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.03. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $221.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.74.

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

Cintas Increases Dividend

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

About Cintas

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.

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