Analysts Set Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) PT at $43.42

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.42.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Aramark by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,315,000 after acquiring an additional 178,147 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,986,000 after purchasing an additional 554,239 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263,817 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,376,000 after purchasing an additional 860,179 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Aramark by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,214 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ARMK opened at $34.35 on Tuesday. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

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.