Advisors Preferred LLC Cuts Position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Advisors Preferred LLC lessened its holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Cintas by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 211.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 778,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $160,357,000 after purchasing an additional 529,005 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 11,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,109,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Cintas by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $457,574,000 after buying an additional 1,286,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Cintas by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 127,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,283,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CTAS shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Cintas from $240.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Cintas in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $236.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $191.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Cintas from $209.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.46.

Cintas Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $202.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.00. The firm has a market cap of $81.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.72, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.38. Cintas Co. has a 1-year low of $150.70 and a 1-year high of $228.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. Cintas had a net margin of 17.23% and a return on equity of 40.62%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.61 earnings per share. Cintas’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Cintas’s payout ratio is currently 37.61%.

About Cintas

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.