Wealthfront Advisers LLC Invests $83,000 in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position 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 worth $608,619,000 after purchasing an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Aramark by 70.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 worth $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aramark by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after purchasing an additional 45,384 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,176,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE:ARMK opened at $36.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.37 and its 200-day moving average is $38.11. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. 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 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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’s stock. According to 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.