Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 73.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,596 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,485 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aramark were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 471.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 97,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 80,300 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter valued at about $408,000.

Aramark Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $37.04 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.10. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.16 and a beta of 1.64. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark 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.