Sigma Planning Corp Reduces Stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,356 shares of the company’s stock after selling 828 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Aramark were worth $235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aramark by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,444,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,926,000 after acquiring an additional 152,572 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Aramark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,758,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,719,000 after acquiring an additional 186,969 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Aramark by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 3,982,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,918,000 after acquiring an additional 259,026 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Aramark by 60.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,969,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Aramark by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,146,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,497,000 after acquiring an additional 10,570 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $32.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.48. Aramark has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $33.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.29.

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

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.095 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 15.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ARMK. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.04.

Aramark 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.