KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Trims Stake in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lowered its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 196,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,100 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Cintas were worth $36,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Cintas by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 2nd quarter worth $625,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 212,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,291,000 after purchasing an additional 35,781 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 92,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,710,000 after purchasing an additional 31,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cintas from a “cautious” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $205.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cintas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.17.

Cintas Trading Down 0.9%

CTAS stock opened at $174.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $69.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.34, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.01. Cintas Corporation has a 52 week low of $165.60 and a 52 week high of $229.24.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.47% and a net margin of 17.57%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.85%.

Cintas Company 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.