New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 16,200 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,305 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Aramark worth $5,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aramark by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Aramark by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Aramark by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in Aramark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $181,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $43.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.84 and a 200-day moving average of $37.53. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.92 and a 1-year high of $44.01.

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

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 32.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARMK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.91.

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.