Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stake Boosted by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 3.21% of Aramark worth $317,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth about $716,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Aramark by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after buying an additional 35,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Aramark by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,028,000 after acquiring an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 6.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Aramark by 45.7% in 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 in the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Up 1.4 %

Aramark stock opened at $35.02 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 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 business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Aramark’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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. Investors 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 1.20%. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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