Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 441,711 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 2.49% of Aramark worth $254,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 25.6% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Aramark by 225.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Aramark in the second quarter valued at $9,263,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the second quarter valued at about $3,634,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the second quarter worth about $280,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 lifted their target price on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.59.

Aramark Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ARMK opened at $40.17 on Friday. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $27.05 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.22 and a 200 day moving average of $36.39. The firm has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

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.