Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $29.79 Million Stock Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 875,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112,660 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of Aramark worth $29,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,477,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at $68,309,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,983,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081,358 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Aramark by 5.5% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,602,000 after buying an additional 923,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,209,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,087,000 after acquiring an additional 746,618 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Aramark from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aramark has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.82.

Aramark Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $36.63 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.59. Aramark has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $36.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.73.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. Aramark’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.095 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 15.97%.

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.