JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target to $41.00

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $39.00 to $41.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Aramark from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $36.54.

Aramark Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ARMK opened at $37.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $38.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,584,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,917,000 after buying an additional 139,693 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Aramark by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,712,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,141,000 after purchasing an additional 98,506 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 5.5% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,602,000 after purchasing an additional 923,683 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 5.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,391,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,501,000 after purchasing an additional 681,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,983,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081,358 shares during the last quarter.

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.