Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,200,000 shares, a decline of 24.1% from the January 15th total of 5,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARMK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE ARMK opened at $38.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.86. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.78 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39 and a beta of 1.64.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 125.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 14,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 8,191 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 148,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,540,000 after buying an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Aramark by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,953,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,802,000 after buying an additional 19,205 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its stake in Aramark by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,376,000 after buying an additional 860,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in Aramark by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 33,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 8,454 shares in the last quarter.

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.