Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Holdings in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 45.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,563 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Cintas were worth $28,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 99,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,501,000 after acquiring an additional 2,628 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 2.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 413,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,909,000 after acquiring an additional 10,249 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,994,594,000 after acquiring an additional 564,487 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cintas during the third quarter valued at about $14,312,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,736,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CTAS. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. 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. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.17.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. This trade represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $177.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98. Cintas Corporation has a one year low of $165.60 and a one year high of $229.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.18, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.01.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.