Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $216.9167.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CTAS shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cintas from a “cautious” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Cintas from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cintas

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cintas in the 4th quarter worth $923,672,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Cintas by 5,641.3% during 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 buying an additional 998,963 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 2,653.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 275.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $153,352,000 after buying an additional 733,380 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of CTAS opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. Cintas has a 1-year low of $165.60 and a 1-year high of $229.24. The company has a market capitalization of $67.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.16.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cintas 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.48%.

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.