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

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.23.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $42.22 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.46 and a 200 day moving average of $35.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.65 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 12 month low of $26.58 and a 12 month high of $42.41.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 is Monday, December 2nd. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 15.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 93,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 12,342 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 179.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aramark during the first quarter worth about $249,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 205,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,689,000 after purchasing an additional 6,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,712,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,141,000 after purchasing an additional 98,506 shares during the period.

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.