Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New Investment in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 89,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,736,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CTAS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cintas by 1.5% in 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. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Cintas by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,118,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,369,391,000 after acquiring an additional 82,029 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,911,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,596,000 after purchasing an additional 495,486 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cintas during the 2nd quarter valued at about $925,531,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Cintas by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,570,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $526,975,000 after purchasing an additional 73,877 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CTAS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cintas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cintas from a “cautious” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Cintas from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.25.

Cintas Stock Down 1.9%

CTAS stock opened at $181.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.84. The company has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.71. Cintas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $178.64 and a fifty-two week high of $229.24.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The business services provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.07% and a net margin of 17.58%.The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.48%.

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.