Quent Capital LLC Acquires 572 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 330.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $153,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its position in shares of Cintas by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 8,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Cintas by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 128.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 182,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,224,000 after purchasing an additional 102,962 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Cintas during the fourth quarter worth about $452,000. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CTAS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Cintas from $166.75 to $199.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $730.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cintas from $194.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Cintas in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $167.50 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $199.63.

Cintas Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $204.91 on Friday. Cintas Co. has a 12-month low of $119.86 and a 12-month high of $211.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $210.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.32.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The business services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.10. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.77%.

Cintas declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In other news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.43, for a total transaction of $842,292.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 125,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,083,425.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

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.