Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Aramark from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $37.36.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $36.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.49. Aramark has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $38.99. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.095 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Souders Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Aramark by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 105,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,597,000 after acquiring an additional 2,949 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 2nd quarter valued at $854,000. Susquehanna International Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aramark during the 2nd quarter worth $319,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 822.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,677,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,737 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.