Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.33.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARMK shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Aramark by 40,750.0% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 817 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Aramark by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Aramark during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000.

Aramark Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of ARMK opened at $40.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63 and a beta of 1.28. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.92 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company's 50-day moving average price is $35.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. Aramark's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 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.

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