Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,110,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the June 15th total of 6,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in Aramark by 6.8% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 11,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 44,750.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 319.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Aramark by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,602,000 after purchasing an additional 923,683 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.89.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.26. 113,103 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,360,774. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.46. Aramark has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $34.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 13.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.97%.

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.