JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $41.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ARMK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.23.

Aramark Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $38.37. 54,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,215,129. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.17. Aramark has a 12 month low of $26.58 and a 12 month high of $42.04.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.001 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.38%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Aramark by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the third quarter worth $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 360.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 32.0% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the third quarter worth $52,000.

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.