Brokerages Set Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Target Price at $43.42

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.42.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Aramark by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Aramark by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Aramark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $34.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.92.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

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.