Citigroup Begins Coverage on Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock.

ARMK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Trading Down 0.7 %

ARMK traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $36.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,267,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,747. The stock has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72 and a beta of 1.64. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business's 50-day moving average is $37.82 and its 200-day moving average is $38.09.

Remove Ads

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $951,315,000 after buying an additional 178,147 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company's stock worth $606,986,000 after acquiring an additional 554,239 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $507,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its position in shares of Aramark by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company's stock worth $427,376,000 after acquiring an additional 860,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock worth $317,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,214 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.