Auour Investments LLC Acquires 1,515 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Auour Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 300.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the quarter. Auour Investments LLC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTAS. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Cintas by 211.1% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,429,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $499,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648,350 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its position in Cintas by 300.0% during the third quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,630,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,500 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Cintas by 295.6% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 784,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $161,531,000 after purchasing an additional 586,271 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position in Cintas by 362.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 736,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $151,567,000 after purchasing an additional 577,135 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Cintas by 3,302.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 501,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $103,194,000 after purchasing an additional 486,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTAS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective on shares of Cintas from $194.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cintas from $219.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cintas from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Cintas from $166.75 to $199.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $199.63.

Cintas Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:CTAS opened at $207.56 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $217.93 and a 200 day moving average of $192.31. Cintas Co. has a 52 week low of $128.92 and a 52 week high of $215.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.32.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The business services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 16.80% and a return on equity of 39.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.70 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Cintas’s payout ratio is currently 39.39%.

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

Cintas Company Profile

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.