Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Takes Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 89,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,337,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Aramark by 9.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,955 shares of the company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Aramark during the third quarter worth $716,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Aramark by 57.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after acquiring an additional 69,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Aramark by 5.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period.

Aramark Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Aramark stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $33.21. 88,304 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,871. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15 and a beta of 1.37. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Aramark's payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded 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 set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.08.

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.