Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 694 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,635 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Aramark were worth $2,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings 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 valued at $322,618,000 after buying an additional 3,430,131 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Aramark by 7.2% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in Aramark by 277.2% during 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 in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock opened at $35.95 on Monday. 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 twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.13. The company has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 1.60.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

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.