Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Aramark from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $36.89.

Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock opened at $38.21 on Friday. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $38.54. The stock has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.96.

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

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Twin Tree Management LP raised its stake in Aramark by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 319.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 44,750.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares during the last quarter.

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.