Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $5.04 Million Investment in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 130,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,042,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company's stock worth $579,602,000 after buying an additional 923,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,391,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $435,501,000 after acquiring an additional 681,735 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 18.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 720,738 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Aramark by 822.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,677,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 12.9% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 995,279 shares of the company's stock worth $32,366,000 after purchasing an additional 113,354 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Aramark from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Aramark stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.86. 1,838,385 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,173,878. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.53. Aramark has a twelve month low of $26.58 and a twelve month high of $42.04. The company has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.27 and a beta of 1.62.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.001 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.01%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.38%.

About Aramark

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.