Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $218.50.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CTAS shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Cintas from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Cintas from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $222.00 price objective on Cintas and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, September 10th.

Cintas Trading Up 0.0%

Cintas stock opened at $224.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $88.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92. Cintas has a one year low of $161.16 and a one year high of $225.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.91.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.04. Cintas had a return on equity of 42.57% and a net margin of 17.82%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Cintas has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.450-5.540 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cintas will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Cintas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cintas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,520,425,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Cintas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $644,334,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Cintas by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,402,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $406,336,000 after acquiring an additional 142,576 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Cintas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $386,159,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Cintas by 8.3% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,167,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,673,000 after purchasing an additional 165,752 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation provides workplace products and services to businesses and other organizations, primarily in the United States and Canada. The company is best known for designing, supplying, laundering and maintaining uniforms, workwear and related apparel for employees across a range of industries.

Its offerings also include facility services such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, hygiene products, janitorial supplies and document management. Through its first aid and safety business, Cintas provides first-aid products, safety training and related workplace solutions.