Allstate Corp Purchases 12,984 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 96.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,984 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Cintas were worth $4,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cintas by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,994,594,000 after buying an additional 564,487 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,729,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,466,000 after buying an additional 158,785 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,559,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,460,000 after buying an additional 12,841 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,223,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $442,548,000 after buying an additional 623,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,002,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $376,647,000 after buying an additional 181,952 shares during the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cintas Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ CTAS opened at $171.09 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.12. 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 has a market cap of $68.45 billion, a PE ratio of 48.33, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.96. Cintas Corporation has a 12 month low of $161.16 and a 12 month high of $229.24.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.85%.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In other Cintas news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTAS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock 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 given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cintas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.17.

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.