Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 809,792 Shares of Aramark $ARMK

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Aramark by 16.3% in Q1, now owning approximately 2.20% of the company, valued at $198.9 million.
• Aramark recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.105, with an annualized yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 31.11%.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Aramark, with a price target averaging around $45.44.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,762,907 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 809,792 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.20% of Aramark worth $198,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 26,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 48.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 83.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,055 shares of the company's stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 553.3% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 37,791 shares of the company's stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 32,006 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE ARMK traded up $0.5980 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.0180. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,355,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,573,492. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.92 and a 52 week high of $44.49. The company has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.06.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. Aramark had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 15.67%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Aramark has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ARMK. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Aramark from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $45.44.

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.