Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 168,996 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 598,665 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 168,996 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.23% of Aramark worth $22,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,949,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock worth $317,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 860,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at $10,324,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Aramark Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded down $0.32 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.11. 1,158,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,083,385. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.06 and its 200 day moving average is $37.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Aramark's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.07%.

Aramark Company 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.