Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 265,674 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 30.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 610,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265,674 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $23,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 3,307 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Aramark by 7.7% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 54,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 110.5% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 135,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,614,000 after purchasing an additional 71,189 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Aramark by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $37.67 on Thursday. Aramark has a twelve month low of $27.47 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.71. The firm has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05 and a beta of 1.63.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.001 dividend. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ARMK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.59.

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.