Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target Raised to $40.00

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ARMK. StockNews.com raised Aramark from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Aramark from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Down 1.6 %

Aramark stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.08. 1,501,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,217,437. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.15 and its 200 day moving average is $35.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Aramark has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $42.04. The company has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.45 and a beta of 1.62.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. Aramark's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.001 dividend. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.38%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 100.3% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 360.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 32.0% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Aramark during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000.

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.