Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Purchased by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 908,922 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,641 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. owned 0.34% of Aramark worth $33,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Aramark during the third quarter worth approximately $716,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,427,000 after buying an additional 441,711 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in Aramark by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 35,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Aramark by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company's stock worth $169,028,000 after acquiring an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Aramark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company's stock worth $67,106,000 after acquiring an additional 14,839 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ARMK shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.42.

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Aramark Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Aramark stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $34.13. 4,566,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,027,543. The firm has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88 and a beta of 1.60. The stock's fifty day moving average is $37.22 and its 200 day moving average is $38.06. Aramark has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Aramark's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.