Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Short Interest Update

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,570,000 shares, a decrease of 31.8% from the November 30th total of 9,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.59.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Aramark in the third quarter worth about $716,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 7.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after buying an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Aramark by 173.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 3,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,106,000 after buying an additional 14,839 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.43. 1,232,532 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,194,624. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81 and a beta of 1.63. Aramark has a one year low of $27.47 and a one year high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.11 and its 200-day moving average is $36.75.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.001 per share. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

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.