Kentucky Retirement Systems Grows Stock Position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its position in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 267.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,369 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Cintas were worth $4,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Cintas by 211.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,429,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $499,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,350 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 300.0% during the third quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,630,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,500 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 211.6% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,140,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,826,000 after purchasing an additional 774,551 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 291.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 889,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $183,110,000 after purchasing an additional 662,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Cintas by 295.6% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 784,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $161,531,000 after buying an additional 586,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CTAS shares. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $167.50 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Cintas from $212.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cintas from $219.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Cintas from $212.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Cintas from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $199.63.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $215.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $86.79 billion, a PE ratio of 54.34, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.32. Cintas Co. has a 12-month low of $136.50 and a 12-month high of $227.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.50.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The business services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.10. Cintas had a return on equity of 39.56% and a net margin of 16.80%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cintas Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.39%.

Cintas announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.