Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 113,139 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $4,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Aramark by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 492,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter worth $650,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Aramark by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 64,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 9,772 shares during the period.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $34.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.22 and its 200-day moving average is $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s payout ratio is 33.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.