Hartford Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 328 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $3,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 299.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,555,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,996,697,000 after purchasing an additional 10,910,285 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 297.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,860,000 after buying an additional 6,571,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,248,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,693,654,000 after buying an additional 6,235,052 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 264.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,379,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Cintas by 308.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,522,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $519,419,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,926 shares during the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTAS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Cintas from $240.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cintas from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Cintas from $236.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Cintas from $191.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cintas from $185.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $198.46.

Cintas Stock Performance

Cintas stock opened at $204.61 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.47. Cintas Co. has a twelve month low of $150.70 and a twelve month high of $228.12. The company has a market capitalization of $82.57 billion, a PE ratio of 49.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. Cintas’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Cintas’s payout ratio is 37.61%.

Cintas Company Profile

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.