Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,497,580 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 178,147 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.62% of Aramark worth $951,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ARMK. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after purchasing an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 7.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after acquiring an additional 45,384 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,176,000 after acquiring an additional 14,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aramark by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 908,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,912,000 after purchasing an additional 70,641 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 0.6 %

Aramark stock opened at $34.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARMK shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.42.

Aramark Company Profile

Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services.