Prudential Financial Inc. Has $8.49 Million Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 231.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,173 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 158,717 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Aramark worth $8,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 111,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,335,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 69.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 6.4% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Aramark by 169.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 121,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,659,000 after acquiring an additional 76,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 26.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 366,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,199,000 after acquiring an additional 77,567 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARMK. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $34.16 on Friday. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.95. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. 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.