Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,544,822,000 after buying an additional 219,809 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Cintas by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,118,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $935,146,000 after acquiring an additional 296,059 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $877,216,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 264.7% during 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 137.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $457,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,668 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CTAS. Truist Financial upped their target price on Cintas from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cintas from $195.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “sell” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cintas from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.58.

Cintas Trading Up 0.1 %

CTAS stock opened at $190.54 on Tuesday. Cintas Co. has a 12-month low of $162.16 and a 12-month high of $228.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $201.24 and its 200 day moving average is $204.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.94, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.11%.

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.