Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $177.53 and last traded at $178.13, with a volume of 2327964 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $181.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CTAS shares. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $181.00 target price (up from $176.00) on shares of Cintas in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cintas from a “cautious” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $245.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cintas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cintas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.25.

Cintas Trading Down 1.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $71.23 billion, a PE ratio of 51.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cintas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,994,594,000 after purchasing an additional 564,487 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,311,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,879,632,000 after purchasing an additional 210,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 1.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 97,220 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cintas by 11.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,911,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,094,596,000 after buying an additional 495,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cintas during the fourth quarter worth about $923,672,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

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.