Natixis Decreases Stock Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Natixis lowered its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 24.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 365,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115,300 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Aramark were worth $11,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Aramark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,584,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,917,000 after acquiring an additional 139,693 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Aramark by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,614,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $663,545,000 after acquiring an additional 91,866 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Aramark by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,983,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081,358 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Aramark by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,432,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,150,000 after acquiring an additional 527,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aramark by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,845,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,066,000 after acquiring an additional 417,472 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.09. 1,301,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,344,982. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.59. Aramark has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $34.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.01 and a 200 day moving average of $31.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 13.82% and a net margin of 3.43%. On average, research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.89.

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.