Analysts Set Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target at $42.59

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

ARMK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Aramark by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Cadent Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Aramark by 4.7% during the third quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $38.07 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.80. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97 and a beta of 1.64. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Aramark’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.07%.

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.