Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $2.06 Million in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 73,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,060,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. S.A. Mason LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the third quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Aramark by 2,269.4% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Aramark by 67.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aramark during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Aramark by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.04.

Aramark Price Performance

Aramark stock opened at $31.15 on Thursday. Aramark has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $33.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.30 and its 200-day moving average is $28.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.48.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. Aramark had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 3.37%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.90%.

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.