Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Purchases 8,191 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 125.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,746 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,191 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Aramark were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock worth $951,315,000 after buying an additional 178,147 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Aramark by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock worth $507,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,376,000 after purchasing an additional 860,179 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,738,367 shares of the company's stock worth $214,098,000 after purchasing an additional 31,399 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.08.

Aramark Price Performance

NYSE ARMK traded up $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.58. 2,915,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,084,791. 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 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.01. The company has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44 and a beta of 1.37.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Aramark's payout ratio is 33.07%.

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.