Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Cintas, buying 4.91 million shares valued at about $923.7 million and ending with 1.23% ownership of the company.
• Institutional interest in Cintas remains high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 63.46% of the stock, even as some analysts have become more cautious and the consensus rating sits at Hold.
• Cintas reported quarterly EPS of $1.24 and revenue of $2.84 billion, both in line with or slightly above expectations, while also announcing a $0.45 per share quarterly dividend payable on June 15.

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,911,318 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $923,672,000. Norges Bank owned 1.23% of Cintas at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Cintas by 5,641.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,016,671 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $208,682,000 after purchasing an additional 998,963 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Cintas by 2,653.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,003,031 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $188,640,000 after buying an additional 966,597 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cintas by 275.2% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,123,237 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $230,556,000 after buying an additional 823,885 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP raised its stake in Cintas by 5,341.8% in the third quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 747,109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $153,352,000 after buying an additional 733,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Cintas by 2,286.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 736,620 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $138,536,000 after buying an additional 705,751 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTAS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Cintas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Cintas in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $215.17.

Insider Activity

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. This trade represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.90% of the company's stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $171.26 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $172.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.84. The firm has a market cap of $68.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.38, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.96. Cintas Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.16 and a 1 year high of $229.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.47% and a net margin of 17.57%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued 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 presently 50.85%.

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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