Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.42.

ARMK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Aramark by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK opened at $34.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a one year low of $29.82 and a one year high of $42.49.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.07%.

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.