Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $42.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.25% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ARMK. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $38.45 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27 and a beta of 1.20. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.92 and a 1-year high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Aramark by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 69,223 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth approximately $284,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 5,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in Aramark by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 35,616 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.