Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 610,020 shares of the company's stock after selling 265,674 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Aramark worth $23,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,619,000 after purchasing an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Aramark by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company's stock worth $322,618,000 after buying an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 720,738 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of Aramark stock traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $37.65. 1,605,567 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,198,488. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.18 and a 200 day moving average of $36.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Aramark has a 52 week low of $27.47 and a 52 week high of $42.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03 and a beta of 1.63.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.001 per share. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARMK shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aramark currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.59.

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.