Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada to “Outperform”

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $42.50 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $36.00.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ARMK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $37.36.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $38.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.30.

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

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aramark in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Twin Tree Management LP grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 32.0% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 319.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 44,750.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 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.