Analysts Set Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) PT at $37.36

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.36.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 131.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after buying an additional 55,249 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,477,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,584,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,917,000 after purchasing an additional 139,693 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Aramark by 3,613.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 680,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,115,000 after purchasing an additional 661,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in Aramark by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,614,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $663,545,000 after purchasing an additional 91,866 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Down 0.8 %

Aramark stock opened at $37.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $24.13 and a fifty-two week high of $38.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.81.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Aramark’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.095 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.97%.

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.