Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $332,000 Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 75.5%, selling 29,643 shares and ending with 9,630 shares valued at approximately $332,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Aramark, with LPL Financial LLC boosting its holdings by 23.2% and Arrowstreet Capital acquiring a new stake worth $3.34 million.
• Aramark is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a price target averaging $43.91, as two analysts have rated it as a hold and ten as a buy.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 75.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,630 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,643 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Aramark were worth $332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Aramark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,859 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter worth $181,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK traded up $0.67 on Monday, hitting $43.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,548,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,510,648. The company's fifty day moving average price is $41.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.97. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.92 and a 1-year high of $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99 and a beta of 1.33.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Aramark's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be 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 presently 32.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARMK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.91.

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.