Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 106,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,979,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company's stock worth $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company's stock worth $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Aramark by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,028,000 after purchasing an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,871 shares of the company's stock worth $65,176,000 after buying an additional 14,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 723,090 shares of the company's stock worth $26,978,000 after buying an additional 6,034 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,343,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,095,042. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average price is $36.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.95.

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Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 1.23%. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.