Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes $1.30 Million Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 34,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $39.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.36 and its 200-day moving average is $36.92. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.92 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The firm has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARMK shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

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.