Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 39,335 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 382,756 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,335 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.14% of Aramark worth $14,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 4,519 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Aramark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,337,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Aramark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 33,773 shares of the company's stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at $88,949,000. Finally, Anthracite Investment Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. now owns 96,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup began 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.08.

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Aramark Price Performance

NYSE ARMK traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.13. The company had a trading volume of 130,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,090,380. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.82 and a 52 week high of $42.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 1.37. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.52.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's 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.