Power Corp of Canada Acquires New Stake in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Power Corp of Canada purchased a new position in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Cintas by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in Cintas in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Cintas in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 61.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In related news, CAO Michael Lawrence Thompson sold 14,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.98, for a total transaction of $6,583,479.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,318 shares in the company, valued at $10,376,043.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Cintas news, CAO Michael Lawrence Thompson sold 14,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.98, for a total value of $6,583,479.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,318 shares in the company, valued at $10,376,043.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Michael Hansen sold 1,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.85, for a total transaction of $714,913.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,313,824.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CTAS. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cintas from $435.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cintas from $495.00 to $530.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cintas from $393.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Cintas from $490.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $476.10.

Cintas Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:CTAS opened at $432.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $439.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.06. Cintas Co. has a 12 month low of $343.86 and a 12 month high of $470.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 21st. The business services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.03 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 37.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cintas Co. will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 14th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.43%.

Cintas Profile

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Cintas Corp. engages in the provision of corporate identity uniforms through rental and sales programs. It operates through the following segments: Uniform Rental and Facility Services, First Aid and Safety Services, and All Other. The Uniform Rental and Facility Services segment consists of the rental and servicing of uniforms and other garments including flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and other ancillary items.