Swiss National Bank Boosts Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 492,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Aramark worth $18,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $34.84 on Wednesday. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.