Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stake in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,167,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 165,752 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Cintas were worth $366,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Cintas during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,312,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cintas by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 413,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $84,909,000 after purchasing an additional 10,249 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas in the 4th quarter worth about $15,736,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 792,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $162,733,000 after purchasing an additional 126,845 shares during the period. Finally, Caledonia Investments PLC bought a new stake in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of Cintas 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 transaction, the director owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CTAS shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cintas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.92.

Cintas Price Performance

Shares of CTAS opened at $171.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $68.78 billion, a PE ratio of 48.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $161.16 and a fifty-two week high of $226.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.36.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.85%.

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.