Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Hits New 1-Year High at $38.03

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $38.03 and last traded at $37.87, with a volume of 1095064 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five 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, Aramark has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.54.

Aramark Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.58 and a 200-day moving average of $33.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s payout ratio is 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,477,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at $68,309,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 822.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Aramark by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,983,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081,358 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 923,683 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.