Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New Investment in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 30,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Aramark by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 492,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,364,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter worth $650,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARMK. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $34.45 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.22 and a 200-day moving average of $38.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $42.49.

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. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.