Westerkirk Capital Inc. Boosts Stake in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Westerkirk Capital Inc. increased its position in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 89.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $2,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CTAS. One Capital Management LLC increased its position in Cintas by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 6,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Cintas by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in Cintas by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Cintas by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in Cintas by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CTAS. Robert W. Baird upgraded Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America began coverage on Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.17.

Cintas Stock Performance

NASDAQ CTAS opened at $173.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $172.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.42. Cintas Corporation has a 12-month low of $161.16 and a 12-month high of $227.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.05, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Cintas’s payout ratio is presently 50.85%.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

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.