GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 2,067 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 48.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Aramark by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,315,000 after purchasing an additional 178,147 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,986,000 after buying an additional 554,239 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,182,000 after buying an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,376,000 after buying an additional 860,179 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,551,000 after buying an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK stock opened at $42.79 on Friday. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.92 and a 12 month high of $43.20. The company has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 1.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARMK. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.91.

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.