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

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 30.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Aramark worth $23,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in Aramark by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 69,987 shares of the company's stock worth $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Aramark by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Aramark by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,356 shares of the company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of Aramark stock traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.61. 657,911 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,221,481. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.91 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 12-month low of $26.27 and a 12-month high of $42.04.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.23.

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.