Boston Trust Walden Corp Buys 1,114 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 304.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Cintas were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 300.0% in the third quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,630,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,500 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 0.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 780,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,471 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 6.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 638,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,402,000 after purchasing an additional 37,727 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 300.0% in the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 510,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,170,000 after purchasing an additional 383,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 3,302.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 501,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $103,194,000 after purchasing an additional 486,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CTAS. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Cintas in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $167.50 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Cintas from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cintas from $194.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cintas from $184.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Cintas from $181.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.63.

Cintas Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTAS opened at $207.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.32. Cintas Co. has a 1 year low of $123.65 and a 1 year high of $215.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.59.

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

Cintas declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board 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.