Capital International Investors Has $814.06 Million Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Capital International Investors reduced its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,818,887 shares of the company's stock after selling 299,161 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 8.23% of Aramark worth $814,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 2.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,336,000 after buying an additional 69,223 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the third quarter worth approximately $309,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the third quarter worth $761,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Aramark Stock Up 0.7 %

ARMK stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.19. The company had a trading volume of 575,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,112,965. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.20. The company has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 1.37. Aramark has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

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

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.