Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Trims Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 238,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 70,100 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.09% of Aramark worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth about $366,000. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 15,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 89.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 358,462 shares of the company's stock worth $13,374,000 after acquiring an additional 169,044 shares during the period. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aramark by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 617,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,051,000 after purchasing an additional 30,027 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Aramark by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 46,652 shares of the company's stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.96. 795,086 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,082,605. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $34.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 1.37. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.08.

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.