Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Purchases 14,583 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 383,078 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,583 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Aramark worth $14,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aramark by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $951,315,000 after buying an additional 178,147 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Aramark by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $507,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 860,179 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Aramark by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock worth $317,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in Aramark by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,738,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,098,000 after purchasing an additional 31,399 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.28. 510,576 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,081,150. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.07. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Aramark's payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.