abrdn plc Boosts Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

abrdn plc increased its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 95.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,724 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 37,896 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Aramark were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 67.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Aramark by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 53,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 18,100 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Aramark by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 79,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 12,200 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Aramark by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 18,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Aramark by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 114,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,967,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $32.35 on Monday. Aramark has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $33.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.56 and its 200 day moving average is $29.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.