Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.59.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Aramark during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Aramark during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:ARMK opened at $38.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.26 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Aramark has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.63.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. 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 previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.42%.

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.

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