California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 432,953 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,903 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Aramark worth $12,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARMK. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 2,269.4% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 67.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Aramark by 82.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK opened at $31.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Aramark has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $33.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.39. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. Aramark had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.04.

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.