Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Trading Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s share price was up 0.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.28 and last traded at $38.11. Approximately 331,738 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,932,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Aramark Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.33 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 42.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Aramark by 20.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Aramark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 58,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Aramark by 97.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter worth $474,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Aramark by 112.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 965 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.