Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price Up 3.5% – Time to Buy?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s share price shot up 3.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $37.36 and last traded at $37.17. 225,306 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 2,021,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARMK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.42.

Aramark Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Aramark in the third quarter valued at approximately $716,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Aramark by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after purchasing an additional 35,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Aramark by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after buying an additional 45,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Aramark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,106,000 after buying an additional 14,839 shares in the last quarter.

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.