Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,300 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Aramark were worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Aramark in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Aramark by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Aramark by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 112.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARMK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

Aramark Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE:ARMK opened at $37.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.09. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s payout ratio is 33.07%.

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.