Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 18,477 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 15.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,477 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Cintas were worth $20,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CTAS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cintas by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,994,594,000 after acquiring an additional 564,487 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,118,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,369,391,000 after purchasing an additional 82,029 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cintas by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,911,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,596,000 after purchasing an additional 495,486 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cintas during the 2nd quarter valued at $925,531,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 3.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,570,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $526,975,000 after acquiring an additional 73,877 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Price Performance

NASDAQ:CTAS opened at $181.83 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $195.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.84. The firm has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.01, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.71. Cintas Corporation has a one year low of $178.64 and a one year high of $229.24.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The business services provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.07% and a net margin of 17.58%.The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CTAS. Argus upgraded Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cintas from a “cautious” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Cintas from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Cintas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cintas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.25.

Cintas Company Profile

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.