51,900 Shares in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 51,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,936,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 908,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,912,000 after buying an additional 70,641 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Aramark during the 4th quarter worth $186,000. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 30,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 492,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARMK shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

NYSE ARMK opened at $34.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 1.60. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.97. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.82 and a 52 week high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 33.07%.

Aramark 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.