Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $3.98 Million Investment in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 106,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,979,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Aramark by 57.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after buying an additional 69,223 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter worth about $309,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Aramark in the third quarter worth about $761,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Aramark by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,924,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,573. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.