Anthracite Investment Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Anthracite Investment Company Inc. grew its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Aramark comprises approximately 1.3% of Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $3,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aramark by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $951,315,000 after buying an additional 178,147 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $254,427,000 after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after purchasing an additional 45,384 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,176,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $34.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.02. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 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.