Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 45,543 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 359,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,543 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $65,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. State Street Corp raised its stake in Cintas by 299.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,555,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,996,697,000 after buying an additional 10,910,285 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cintas by 309.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,248,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,693,654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,235,052 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cintas by 264.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379,932 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Cintas by 308.2% during the third 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 worth $519,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CTAS. UBS Group lowered their target price on Cintas from $240.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Cintas from $236.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup started coverage on Cintas in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “sell” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Cintas from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Cintas in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cintas currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $199.79.

Cintas Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CTAS opened at $205.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Cintas Co. has a twelve month low of $154.15 and a twelve month high of $228.12. The company has a market cap of $82.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $198.20 and its 200 day moving average is $209.12.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. Cintas’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Cintas 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.