Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes $186,000 Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Aramark by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Aramark by 1,322.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $34.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. Aramark has a one year low of $29.82 and a one year high of $42.49.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

Aramark Company 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.