Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.68, but opened at $34.37. Aramark shares last traded at $34.31, with a volume of 249,887 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Up 0.9 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.04. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000.

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.