Tidal Investments LLC Grows Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 104.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,388 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,722 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Aramark were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock worth $951,315,000 after acquiring an additional 178,147 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Aramark by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $606,986,000 after buying an additional 554,239 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Aramark by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $507,182,000 after buying an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its position in Aramark by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,376,000 after buying an additional 860,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Aramark by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,551,000 after buying an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ARMK. UBS Group raised their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.33.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.07. 438,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,026,710. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51 and a beta of 1.20. 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 has a twelve month low of $29.92 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.96.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.31%.

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.