Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 432,780 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,550 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.16% of Aramark worth $16,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Aramark by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Aramark by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARMK. Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities 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.com, Aramark currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.08.

Aramark Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ARMK traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.18. 958,272 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,089,516. The business's 50 day moving average is $34.90 and its 200-day moving average is $37.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors 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. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.