Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Reduces Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,247,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,617,638 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $270,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Aramark by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Aramark by 1,322.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 2,763 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $34.16 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $42.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.95.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given 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 (DPR) is currently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities 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.com, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

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.