Brokerages Set Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Target Price at $43.08

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.08.

ARMK has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK stock traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $33.32. The company had a trading volume of 258,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,104,170. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.23.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm 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%. Aramark's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,440 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 30,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 3,330 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Aramark by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 322,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,964 shares of the company's stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 3.4% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,055 shares of the company's stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in 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.