Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s share price fell 1.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $37.31 and last traded at $37.54. 259,871 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,972,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Aramark Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.86.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s payout ratio is 33.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Aramark by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Aramark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Cadent Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 4.7% in the third quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter.

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.