Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Aramark has received an average rating of "Buy" from ten analysts, with one strong buy recommendation and a target price of approximately $45.44.
• In its latest earnings report, Aramark matched analysts' expectations with an earnings per share of $0.40 and reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.7%.
• The company also recently announced a dividend of $0.105 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.1%.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.4444.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARMK. Baird R W upgraded shares of Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Aramark from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $46.00 price target on shares of Aramark and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the company's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 9,267 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 26,504 shares of the company's stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 15,029 shares of the company's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Aramark stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,411,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,555,681. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.09. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.92 and a twelve month high of $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 1.33.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. Aramark had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 15.67%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Aramark has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.11%.

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.