Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 104,857 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 40.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 154,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 104,857 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.06% of Aramark worth $5,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Aramark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Aramark by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Aramark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 15,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock opened at $39.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.04. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.92 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 1.06%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.33.

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.