iA Global Asset Management Inc. Acquires 94,659 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark by 10.4%, acquiring an additional 94,659 shares, bringing its total ownership to 1,003,581 shares valued at approximately $34.6 million.
• Aramark reported $0.34 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $4.33 billion, narrowly missing predictions of $4.35 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.105 per share, set to be paid on August 20th, reflecting a yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 32.31%.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,003,581 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 94,659 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.38% of Aramark worth $34,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Aramark by 40,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 817 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aramark in the fourth quarter worth $72,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Aramark by 82.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,472 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Aramark by 21.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,859 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARMK shares. 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 note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Aramark from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.44.

Aramark Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ARMK traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,825,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,484. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.00. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.33. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.92 and a 52 week high of $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40. Aramark had a return on equity of 15.67% and a net margin of 2.02%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.11%.

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.