Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Takes $650,000 Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 17,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Aramark by 70.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Aramark by 277.2% during the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 144,625 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ARMK shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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 equities 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 company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.42.

Remove Ads

Aramark Price Performance

NYSE ARMK traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $34.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,069,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,027,521. The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.82 and a 52 week high of $42.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.04.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. Aramark's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 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.