Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.46.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTAS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Cintas from $730.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Cintas in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cintas from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Cintas from $209.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cintas from $185.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CTAS. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Cintas by 299.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,555,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,996,697,000 after purchasing an additional 10,910,285 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Cintas by 297.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,807,860,000 after buying an additional 6,571,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cintas by 309.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,248,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,693,654,000 after buying an additional 6,235,052 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 264.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,503,000 after buying an additional 2,379,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 308.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,522,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $519,419,000 after buying an additional 1,904,926 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $185.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.86. Cintas has a 52 week low of $143.64 and a 52 week high of $228.12. The stock has a market cap of $74.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 39.56% and a net margin of 16.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.61 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cintas will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Cintas Company Profile

Cintas Corporation engages in the provision of corporate identity uniforms and related business services primarily in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Uniform Rental and Facility Services, First Aid and Safety Services, and All Other segments. The company rents and services uniforms and other garments, including flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and other ancillary items; and provides restroom cleaning services and supplies, as well as sells uniforms.