Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 323,505 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 868,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 323,505 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $163,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. One Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 6,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cintas Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of CTAS opened at $176.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $173.55 and a 200 day moving average of $184.29. Cintas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $161.16 and a fifty-two week high of $226.75. The firm has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98.

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

Cintas Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CTAS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird raised Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cintas has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 14.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.