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

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ARMK. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Aramark by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in Aramark by 1,322.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Aramark by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Trading Up 0.9 %

ARMK opened at $34.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Aramark has a 52 week low of $29.82 and a 52 week high of $42.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.04.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for 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 last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.