SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,086 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ARMK. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in Aramark by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 3.3% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP grew its position in shares of Aramark by 32.0% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 2.3% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Aramark by 7.7% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $37.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 12 month low of $25.28 and a 12 month high of $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.64 and a 200 day moving average of $34.03.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 15.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.95.

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.