Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 773 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,273 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $1,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark during the third quarter worth about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 112.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of ARMK stock opened at $38.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.26 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.60. Aramark has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARMK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aramark has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.59.

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.