Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

ARMK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $37.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.27 and a 200-day moving average of $35.20. Aramark has a one year low of $26.58 and a one year high of $42.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.001 per share. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 38.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the third quarter worth $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP lifted its holdings in Aramark by 32.0% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter valued at $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.