Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Bought by Amundi

Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,906 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 40,366 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.07% of Aramark worth $6,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Aramark by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 62.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of ARMK opened at $35.51 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.09. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ARMK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.42.

About Aramark

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.