Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stake in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,265,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,760 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Cintas were worth $425,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,438,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,622,000 after buying an additional 50,838 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 4,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantus Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter worth $368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Price Performance

Cintas stock opened at $179.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $72.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.84, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.53 and its 200 day moving average is $184.52. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $161.16 and a 52-week high of $229.24.

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

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 50.85%.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the sale, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CTAS. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.17.

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.