Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,877 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Cintas were worth $6,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cintas by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,293,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,746,453,000 after acquiring an additional 97,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cintas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $923,672,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Cintas by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,729,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $517,466,000 after acquiring an additional 158,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Cintas by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,559,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,460,000 after acquiring an additional 12,841 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.17.

Cintas Stock Performance

CTAS stock opened at $179.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Cintas Corporation has a 12-month low of $161.16 and a 12-month high of $229.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.52.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.47% and a net margin of 17.57%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is 50.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 14.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Cintas

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.