Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,173 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Aramark were worth $8,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth $716,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 35,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after acquiring an additional 45,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,106,000 after buying an additional 14,839 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK opened at $34.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.22 and a 200-day moving average of $38.05. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $42.49. 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 (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.