Schroder Investment Management Group Decreases Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 33.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,429,883 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,241,659 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.92% of Aramark worth $90,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Aramark by 21.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 111,918 shares of the company's stock worth $4,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,606 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 69.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,286 shares of the company's stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Aramark by 169.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 121,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,659,000 after purchasing an additional 76,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Aramark by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 366,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,199,000 after buying an additional 77,567 shares during the period.

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Aramark Stock Down 7.9 %

Shares of ARMK stock traded down $2.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.31. The stock had a trading volume of 3,605,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,364. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. 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 50-day moving average is $36.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Aramark's payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARMK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.42.

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.