Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 28,691 Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Aramark by 70.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,618,000 after buying an additional 3,430,131 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 7.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aramark by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock 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 stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE ARMK opened at $34.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. 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. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.