Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 182.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,443,849 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 931,904 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.55% of Aramark worth $40,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 112.2% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 27,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 14,628 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Aramark by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 141,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,986,000 after buying an additional 27,522 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Aramark by 121.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 368,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,268,000 after acquiring an additional 201,623 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Aramark by 451.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,715,000 after acquiring an additional 87,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 143.8% during the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 90,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,145,000 after purchasing an additional 53,463 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ARMK. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.04.

Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock opened at $32.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. Aramark has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $33.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.59 and its 200-day moving average is $29.34.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.29 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 3.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.90%.

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.