Czech National Bank Increases Stock Position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Cintas were worth $11,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cintas by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,299,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,206,969,000 after purchasing an additional 112,361 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cintas during the fourth quarter valued at $872,895,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Cintas by 3.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 806,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $554,000,000 after buying an additional 27,470 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Cintas by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 726,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $437,842,000 after acquiring an additional 15,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Cintas by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 638,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,402,000 after acquiring an additional 37,727 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTAS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded shares of Cintas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $725.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Cintas from $775.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $775.00 price target (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Cintas in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cintas from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $742.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $765.72, for a total value of $842,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,083,425.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Trading Up 0.2 %

CTAS traded up $1.80 during trading on Monday, hitting $757.45. 40,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 372,897. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.31. Cintas Co. has a 12-month low of $474.74 and a 12-month high of $773.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $721.21 and a 200 day moving average of $675.80.

Shares of Cintas are going 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 issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, September 11th.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.47 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. Cintas’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cintas Co. will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.56 per share. This is an increase from Cintas’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $6.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Cintas’s payout ratio is presently 43.09%.

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

Cintas Profile

Cintas Corporation provides 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.