Brokerages Set Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) PT at $43.42

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.42.

ARMK has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup started coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Aramark by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Aramark by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Aramark by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 2.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period.

Aramark Price Performance

Aramark stock opened at $34.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.92. 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 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.