Sawyer & Company Inc Purchases New Shares in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Key Points

• Sawyer & Company Inc initiated a new stake in Cintas, buying 16,363 shares in Q4 valued at about $3.08 million.
• Insider sale: Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares on April 20 for roughly $834,607, a 17.21% reduction in his position; insiders own 14.90% of the company.
• The consensus analyst view on CTAS is a "Hold" with an average target price of $215.17, though recent notes include a Wells Fargo upgrade to overweight and Bank of America initiating coverage at neutral.

Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 16,363 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,077,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Cintas by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,058 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC raised its position in Cintas by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Cintas by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,381 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in Cintas by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Cintas by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CTAS. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cintas from a "cautious" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cintas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Argus raised shares of Cintas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $215.17.

Insider Activity at Cintas

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 transaction of $834,607.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 14.90% of the company's stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $169.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $67.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.22. Cintas Corporation has a 12-month low of $165.60 and a 12-month high of $229.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Cintas's payout ratio is presently 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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