Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Short Interest Update

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,150,000 shares, a decline of 21.6% from the December 15th total of 6,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARMK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.59.

Aramark Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Aramark stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.18. The company had a trading volume of 2,358,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,903,378. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.16. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $28.30 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 19,228 shares of the company's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Aramark by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 35,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,611 shares of the company's stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 5,911 shares during the period.

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.