Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sets New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $41.80 and last traded at $41.80, with a volume of 17859 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.11.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Down 1.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.41 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.10.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 90.6% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 5,846 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 69.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 11,144 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 111,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,335,000 after acquiring an additional 19,606 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.