Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.59.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE ARMK opened at $40.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58 and a beta of 1.63. 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 50-day moving average price is $39.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.39. Aramark has a 52-week low of $27.05 and a 52-week high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth about $716,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 173.9% during 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,106,000 after buying an additional 14,839 shares during the period. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the third quarter worth $3,524,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,263,000.

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.