North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires New Shares in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,792 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CTAS. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Cintas by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its holdings in Cintas by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Cintas by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Cintas by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cintas by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cintas Trading Up 3.7%

Cintas stock opened at $174.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.14 and a 200-day moving average of $185.62. Cintas Corporation has a one year low of $161.16 and a one year high of $229.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $69.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.96.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CTAS shares. Argus upgraded Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.17.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) is a provider of business services and products focused on workplace appearance, safety and facility maintenance. The company is best known for its uniform rental and corporate apparel programs, which include rental, leasing and direct-purchase options, laundering and garment repair. Cintas markets its services to a wide range of end-users, including manufacturing, food service, healthcare, hospitality, retail and government customers.

Beyond uniforms, Cintas offers a suite of facility services and products designed to help organizations maintain clean, safe and compliant workplaces.