Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 165,752 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its Cintas stake by 8.3% in the first quarter, buying 165,752 shares and bringing its total to 2,167,957 shares valued at about $366.7 million.
• Cintas reported quarterly earnings of $1.24 EPS, matching estimates, while revenue came in slightly above expectations at $2.84 billion and rose 8.9% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock has a consensus Hold rating and average price target of $215.92, though several firms still maintain Buy or Outperform ratings despite recent target cuts.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,167,957 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 165,752 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.54% of Cintas worth $366,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Cintas by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cintas by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 2nd quarter valued at $625,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 20.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 212,192 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,291,000 after purchasing an additional 35,781 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 50.2% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 92,924 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,710,000 after purchasing an additional 31,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CTAS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Cintas from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Cintas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Cintas from $255.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $215.92.

Cintas Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTAS opened at $171.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.56, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.95 and a 200 day moving average of $183.36. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $161.16 and a 1-year high of $226.75.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Cintas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 22,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cintas 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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