Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report)'s share price hit 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. The stock had previously closed at $42.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Aramark Stock Performance

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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.25. The firm has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 33.16 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share 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 $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.31%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $951,315,000 after purchasing an additional 178,147 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Aramark by 29.5% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,605,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $607,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,012,162 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Aramark by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $606,986,000 after buying an additional 554,239 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its stake in Aramark by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 13,037,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Aramark by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period.

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.