Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s share price shot up 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.22 and last traded at $38.06. 167,484 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 2,001,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARMK has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Aramark Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Aramark by 63.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,182,000 after buying an additional 5,263,817 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,949,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,551,000 after buying an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth $18,105,000.

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.