Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $743,000 Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARMK. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,618,000 after buying an additional 3,430,131 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after buying an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after buying an additional 441,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in Aramark by 277.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after purchasing an additional 144,625 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Up 3.1 %

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

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.105 dividend. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARMK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 began coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.