Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $44.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Aramark traded as high as $42.68 and last traded at $42.57, with a volume of 362147 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.87.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Aramark by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,605,896 shares of the company's stock worth $607,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012,162 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Aramark by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company's stock worth $606,986,000 after acquiring an additional 554,239 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its position in Aramark by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 13,037,630 shares of the company's stock worth $450,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,890 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Aramark by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock worth $317,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period.

Aramark Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.05.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The business 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 firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is 32.31%.

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.