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

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ARMK. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.89.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $38.21 on Friday. Aramark has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $38.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.17. The company has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Aramark by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 8,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aramark by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,674,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,045,000 after purchasing an additional 51,219 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Aramark by 233.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 63,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 44,790 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the fourth quarter worth $403,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Aramark by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,845,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,066,000 after acquiring an additional 417,472 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Company Profile

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.