Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.04.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARMK. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $30.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Aramark has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $33.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.43.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.05. Aramark had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 3.37%. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Aramark’s payout ratio is 15.90%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new position in Aramark during the 4th quarter worth $75,477,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at $68,309,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 60.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,969,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492,542 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Aramark by 27.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Aramark by 182.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,443,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,435,000 after purchasing an additional 931,904 shares during 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.