Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC Grows Position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTAS. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cintas by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 37,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,897,000 after buying an additional 8,009 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Cintas by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 257,032 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,960,000 after buying an additional 12,734 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Cintas by 465.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 64,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,746,000 after buying an additional 52,929 shares during the period. Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new stake in Cintas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,069,000. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 7,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cintas from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Cintas from $195.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cintas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.88.

Cintas Stock Performance

CTAS stock opened at $214.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a PE ratio of 51.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.41. Cintas Co. has a 12-month low of $164.93 and a 12-month high of $228.12. 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 (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. Cintas’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total value of $1,780,548.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total value of $380,740.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

About Cintas

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.