Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

ARMK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised Aramark from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.59.

Aramark Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ARMK traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.22. 2,183,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,439,237. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59 and a beta of 1.64. Aramark has a one year low of $28.30 and a one year high of $42.49. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.95.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the third quarter worth $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Aramark during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Aramark by 112.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 965 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.