Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 158,717 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 231.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 227,173 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 158,717 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $8,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in 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 buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Aramark by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 126,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,702,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup assumed 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. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $34.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.95. 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 (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. 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 1.23%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

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.