Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Bought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 76.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,094 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 49,093 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Aramark were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Aramark by 360.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 319.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ARMK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.23.

Aramark Trading Up 2.4 %

Aramark stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.83. 2,815,910 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,230,476. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.27 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 52-week low of $26.58 and a 52-week high of $42.04.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

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.