Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $215.1667.

CTAS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Cintas Price Performance

Cintas stock opened at $172.20 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $176.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Cintas has a 52 week low of $161.16 and a 52 week high of $229.24. The stock has a market cap of $68.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.85%.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 14.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Cintas in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Cintas in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 1,712.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. 63.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.