Aquatic Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 56,756 Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 56,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,118,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Aramark by 0.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Aramark by 63.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263,817 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its position in Aramark by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,376,000 after purchasing an additional 860,179 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Aramark by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in Aramark by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,738,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,098,000 after purchasing an additional 31,399 shares during the period.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $33.02 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.10. The stock has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 1.37. 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.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ARMK. UBS Group dropped their target price on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

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.