Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARMK. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Aramark by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 62.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 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 $35.51 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.09. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

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.