Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ARMK. UBS Group boosted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Aramark from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.59.

Aramark Stock Down 0.9 %

ARMK traded down $0.38 on Thursday, hitting $40.38. 1,535,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,215,802. Aramark has a 12 month low of $26.58 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.79 and a beta of 1.63. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $39.17 and its 200-day moving average is $36.30.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Aramark's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.6% in 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% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 69,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,381,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 4.7% during the third quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 during 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.