Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Aramark by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.5% in the fourth 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 period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 126,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,702,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARMK. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK opened at $35.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.10. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.