Anthracite Investment Company Inc. Boosts Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Anthracite Investment Company Inc. grew its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Aramark accounts for approximately 1.3% of Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $3,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after purchasing an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Aramark during the third quarter worth $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $951,315,000 after acquiring an additional 178,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 231.9% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 227,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,000 after acquiring an additional 158,717 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ARMK opened at $34.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. Aramark has a one year low of $29.82 and a one year high of $42.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.02.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARMK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

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.