Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Receives $42.59 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.59.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,646,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,480,699. Aramark has a 1 year low of $28.30 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.88 and a 200 day moving average of $36.96. The company has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.001 per share. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 6.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company's stock worth $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company's stock worth $322,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430,131 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 worth $254,427,000 after buying an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Aramark by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 720,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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.

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.