Shelton Capital Management Trims Stock Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Shelton Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 34.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,778 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,326 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Aramark were worth $3,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $716,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 7.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after purchasing an additional 35,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aramark by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,028,000 after buying an additional 45,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARMK. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $30.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.63. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.82 and a 52 week high of $42.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.