Colonial Trust Advisors Grows Position in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Colonial Trust Advisors grew its stake in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Cintas were worth $10,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 2.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 413,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,909,000 after purchasing an additional 10,249 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,312,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 1.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 564,487 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,736,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 19.0% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 792,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $162,733,000 after purchasing an additional 126,845 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $181.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $173.46 and a 200 day moving average of $184.35. Cintas Corporation has a 52 week low of $161.16 and a 52 week high of $226.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.38, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced 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. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.47% and a net margin of 17.57%.The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTAS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Bank of America started coverage on Cintas in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.17.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total value of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

Cintas 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.