Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,314 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Aramark by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,315,000 after acquiring an additional 178,147 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,551,000 after buying an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Aramark by 1.1% during 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, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at $88,949,000.

Aramark Trading Down 7.9 %

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $31.31 on Friday. Aramark has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.30 and a 200 day moving average of $37.80. The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARMK shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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 on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

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.