CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 1,691 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 225,227 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,691 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.08% of Aramark worth $8,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in Aramark during the fourth quarter worth $366,000. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 15,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Aramark by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 358,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,374,000 after acquiring an additional 169,044 shares during the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 617,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,051,000 after buying an additional 30,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 46,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

Aramark Price Performance

Aramark stock opened at $31.43 on Tuesday. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75 and a beta of 1.37.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’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 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.