Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target Raised to $44.00 at Robert W. Baird

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $38.00 to $44.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Aramark from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK traded down $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,757,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,608. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Aramark has a one year low of $25.92 and a one year high of $42.04. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.45 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.10.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company 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 earned $0.64 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Aramark by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,712,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $771,141,000 after acquiring an additional 98,506 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Aramark by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company's stock worth $579,602,000 after acquiring an additional 923,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Aramark by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,391,832 shares of the company's stock worth $435,501,000 after acquiring an additional 681,735 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,618,000 after buying an additional 3,430,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 720,738 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.