Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Purchased by Capital International Sarl

Capital International Sarl increased its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 33.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,388 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,454 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Aramark were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. 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 last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 15.9% during 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 last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 199,657 shares of the company's stock worth $7,470,000 after acquiring an additional 59,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Aramark by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Up 2.2 %

ARMK traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $32.99. 2,355,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,080,718. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $34.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.23.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARMK. 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.08.

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.