Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 223,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,721 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.09% of Aramark worth $8,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Aramark by 131.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after buying an additional 55,249 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,477,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,584,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,917,000 after purchasing an additional 139,693 shares in the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Aramark in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,263,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.0% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,404,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,041,000 after acquiring an additional 40,520 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.02. The stock had a trading volume of 48,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,240,792. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.96. Aramark has a 12 month low of $25.28 and a 12 month high of $38.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.03.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.95.

About Aramark

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.