Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ARMK. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aramark presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.91.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,253,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,234. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. Aramark has a one year low of $29.92 and a one year high of $44.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.29 and a beta of 1.28.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 1.97%. The company's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.31%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Aramark by 40,750.0% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 817 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 160.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 241.3% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Aramark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000.

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.