Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 2,127 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Cintas were worth $7,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cintas by 311.1% in the second quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 37 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cintas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Cintas in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cintas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cintas by 226.7% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 49 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cintas news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.43, for a total transaction of $842,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 125,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,083,425.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 15.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CTAS shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Cintas from $193.75 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Cintas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $181.25 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cintas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Cintas from $850.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cintas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.41.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of Cintas stock opened at $204.95 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Cintas Co. has a 12 month low of $118.68 and a 12 month high of $209.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.32.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.47 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cintas Co. will post 16.64 EPS for the current year.

Cintas announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cintas Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Cintas’s payout ratio is currently 10.77%.

Cintas 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.