Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Short Interest Down 31.8% in December

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,570,000 shares, a drop of 31.8% from the November 30th total of 9,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.59.

Aramark Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE ARMK traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,232,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,194,624. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $39.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.78. The company has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.81 and a beta of 1.63. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $27.47 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Aramark by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 69,987 shares of the company's stock worth $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aramark by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company's stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 395 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.