Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $489,000 Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 89.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,111 shares of the company's stock after selling 117,085 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Aramark were worth $489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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Aramark Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ARMK stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $34.28. 1,912,372 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,019,459. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.02. The firm has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.