Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sets New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $33.95 and last traded at $33.46, with a volume of 1924656 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.05.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Aramark Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.01.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Aramark by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 74,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Aramark by 11.2% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 161,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 16,200 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Aramark by 1.5% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 31,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Aramark by 1.8% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Aramark by 11.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 480,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,601,000 after acquiring an additional 48,118 shares during the period.

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.