Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,859 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Aramark were worth $99,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $40.12 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86 and a beta of 1.28. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.92 and a 52-week high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARMK. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned 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 $43.73.

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.