First Foundation Advisors Grows Position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Cintas were worth $4,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CTAS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter valued at $872,895,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Cintas by 475.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 299,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $180,423,000 after acquiring an additional 247,378 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cintas by 123.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 366,044 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,326,000 after purchasing an additional 201,955 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 711.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 152,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,915,000 after purchasing an additional 133,713 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas during the 1st quarter valued at about $84,646,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CTAS shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cintas from $790.00 to $874.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Cintas from $775.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Cintas from $700.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $725.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cintas from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $742.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.72, for a total transaction of $842,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,083,425.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Trading Down 2.1 %

Cintas stock opened at $781.90 on Monday. Cintas Co. has a 1 year low of $474.74 and a 1 year high of $812.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $756.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $700.09. 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 stock has a market cap of $78.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.00, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.32.

Shares of Cintas are scheduled to split on Thursday, September 12th. The 4-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 2nd. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, September 11th.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.47 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 37.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.56 per share. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Cintas’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.09%.

Cintas declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.