Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on ARMK. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.59.

Aramark Trading Up 0.2 %

ARMK stock opened at $37.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Aramark has a 1-year low of $27.47 and a 1-year high of $42.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69 and a beta of 1.63.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.001 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Aramark by 7.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth $761,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth $309,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Aramark by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,028,000 after buying an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Aramark by 5.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during 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.