Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Increases Dividend to $0.11 Per Share

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.105 per share on Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.001.

Aramark has decreased its dividend by an average of 3.9% per year over the last three years. Aramark has a dividend payout ratio of 18.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Aramark to earn $2.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK opened at $38.07 on Friday. Aramark has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.70. The company has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

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.