Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in a research report released on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

ARMK has been the subject of several other reports. TheStreet raised Aramark from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aramark from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Aramark from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Aramark from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Aramark from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $43.92.

Aramark Price Performance

Aramark stock opened at $37.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.98. Aramark has a 12 month low of $30.72 and a 12 month high of $45.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.63.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.59 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 12.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 15th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Aramark by 102.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 24,774,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,923,000 after purchasing an additional 12,562,434 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,758,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $741,271,000 after acquiring an additional 302,698 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Aramark by 10.8% in the first quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 13,204,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283,627 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 1,042.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,850,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,228,000 after purchasing an additional 11,725,727 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 3.8% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 11,237,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,316,000 after purchasing an additional 409,000 shares in the last quarter.

About Aramark

Aramark provides food, facilities, and uniform services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Food and Support Services United States, Food and Support Services International, and Uniform and Career Apparel.