Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 710 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $2,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,299,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,206,969,000 after acquiring an additional 112,361 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter worth about $872,895,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Cintas by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 806,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $554,000,000 after purchasing an additional 27,470 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Cintas by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 726,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,842,000 after buying an additional 15,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Cintas by 6.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 638,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,402,000 after buying an additional 37,727 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In related news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.43, for a total value of $842,292.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 125,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,083,425.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Stock Down 74.9 %

Shares of Cintas stock opened at $206.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.34. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Cintas Co. has a 12 month low of $118.68 and a 12 month high of $207.49.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 16.64 EPS for the current year.

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

Cintas Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $193.75 target price (up from $187.50) on shares of Cintas in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $181.25 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup cut Cintas from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $132.50 to $142.50 in a report on Friday, May 24th. Baird R W cut Cintas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cintas from $197.50 to $218.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cintas has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.59.

About Cintas

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.