Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 36,905 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,580,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 36,905 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.65% of Cintas worth $485,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Cintas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Cintas during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Cintas during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cintas in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.17.

Cintas Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ CTAS opened at $173.65 on Tuesday. Cintas Corporation has a 12 month low of $161.16 and a 12 month high of $227.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

About Cintas

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.