Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Aramark from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $37.36.

Aramark Trading Up 0.8 %

ARMK opened at $37.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.53. Aramark has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $75,477,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aramark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,309,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aramark by 822.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,677,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,737 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,209,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,087,000 after purchasing an additional 746,618 shares during the last quarter.

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.