Souders Financial Advisors Decreases Stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Souders Financial Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,818 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,754 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Aramark were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Aramark during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARMK. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $35.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.13. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

About Aramark

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.