Sarasin & Partners LLP Acquires 35,616 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 259,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,616 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Aramark were worth $9,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Aramark by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aramark by 4.7% in the third quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aramark by 2.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK opened at $39.18 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.21. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58 and a beta of 1.64. Aramark has a 1 year low of $28.30 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ARMK. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.59.

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.