Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $17,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CTAS. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in Cintas in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Cintas during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Cintas by 136.8% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTAS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $171.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus upgraded Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Cintas from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.88.

Cintas Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS opened at $213.57 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.41 and a 200-day moving average of $204.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.49, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Cintas Co. has a 12 month low of $164.93 and a 12 month high of $228.12.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 17.23% and a return on equity of 40.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Cintas’s payout ratio is 36.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total value of $1,780,548.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,029 shares in the company, valued at $5,647,979.84. This trade represents a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total transaction of $380,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 256,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,835,235.36. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

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.