Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Reaches New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $43.25 and last traded at $43.00, with a volume of 75707 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.91.

Aramark Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock's 50 day moving average is $40.26 and its 200 day moving average is $37.33.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Aramark's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.97%. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 32.31%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 13,037,630 shares of the company's stock worth $450,059,000 after buying an additional 1,582,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock worth $317,551,000 after buying an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter.

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.