King Luther Capital Management Corp Purchases 12,204 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management increased its stake in Cintas by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,204 more shares and bringing its total holding to 1,812,112 shares worth about $340.8 million.
• Institutional ownership in Cintas remains high, with several other large funds also boosting positions; overall, 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: while Robert W. Baird upgraded Cintas to outperform, Citigroup cut its target and gave a sell rating, leaving the stock with a consensus Hold rating and a $215.17 price target.

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,812,112 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,204 shares during the quarter. Cintas makes up about 1.4% of King Luther Capital Management Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.45% of Cintas worth $340,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Cintas by 1.5% during the third 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. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Cintas by 6.2% in 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 buying an additional 158,785 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Cintas by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,559,852 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $524,460,000 after buying an additional 12,841 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Cintas by 39.0% in 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 increased its stake in shares of Cintas by 10.0% in 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. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CTAS shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Cintas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cintas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Bank of America began coverage on Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $215.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the business'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 value of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their position. 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.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of Cintas stock opened at $171.09 on Wednesday. Cintas Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.16 and a 1 year high of $229.24. The firm's 50-day moving average is $174.06 and its 200 day moving average is $185.12. The stock has a market cap of $68.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.33, a PEG 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 data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. Cintas's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS 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%.

Cintas Company 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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