Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,487 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,772 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Aramark were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Aramark by 70.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,618,000 after buying an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,619,000 after purchasing an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 277.2% in the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after purchasing an additional 144,625 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Up 3.1 %

ARMK stock opened at $35.51 on Monday. 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 has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.11. The stock has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

Aramark Company 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.