Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) Hits New 1-Year High at $812.01

Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $812.01 and last traded at $806.50, with a volume of 34213 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $805.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CTAS. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $725.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com raised Cintas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cintas to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Cintas from $667.00 to $798.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Cintas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cintas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $742.36.

Cintas Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a market cap of $81.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $752.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $697.06.

Shares of Cintas are set to split on the morning of Thursday, September 12th. The 4-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 2nd. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, September 11th.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $3.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cintas Co. will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $6.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Cintas’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. Cintas’s payout ratio is presently 43.09%.

Cintas declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.72, for a total value of $842,292.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,083,425.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 2.2% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,378,000 after buying an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 111.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after buying an additional 3,878 shares in the last quarter. Bensler LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 4.7% in the second quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 14,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,048,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 19.8% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,317,000 after buying an additional 2,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,318,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

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.