Plato Investment Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 816.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Cintas were worth $1,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,299,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,206,969,000 after acquiring an additional 112,361 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cintas during the fourth quarter valued at $872,895,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Cintas by 3.5% in the 1st 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 holdings 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 buying an additional 15,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Cintas by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 638,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,402,000 after buying an additional 37,727 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $761.91. 450,519 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 374,641. 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 company has a market cap of $76.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $711.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $667.69.

Cintas’s stock is set 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 payable to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, September 11th.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.19. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost 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%. Cintas’s payout ratio is currently 37.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.72, for a total value of $842,292.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,083,425.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.72, for a total value of $842,292.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,083,425.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 2,291 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $693.95, for a total value of $1,589,839.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,618,237.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,709 shares of company stock valued at $3,346,441. Corporate insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CTAS. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $725.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cintas from $790.00 to $874.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Cintas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Cintas from $775.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Cintas from $700.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $749.00.

About Cintas

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.