Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,440,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 598,600 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.60% of Cintas worth $445,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cintas by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,468,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,544,822,000 after purchasing an additional 219,809 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,118,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $935,146,000 after buying an additional 296,059 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $877,216,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Cintas by 264.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,379,932 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Cintas by 137.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $457,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTAS. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Cintas from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Cintas from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Cintas from $195.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.58.

Cintas Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS opened at $190.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $201.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.20. Cintas Co. has a 1 year low of $162.16 and a 1 year high of $228.12.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Cintas’s payout ratio is currently 36.11%.

About Cintas

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.