Morgan Stanley Increases Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target to $44.00

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.91.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK stock traded down $0.19 on Monday, hitting $42.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,392,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,000,808. The stock has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92 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's 50-day simple moving average is $39.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.11. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.92 and a 12-month high of $43.20.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The business's quarterly 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aramark by 1.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 26,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 15,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period.

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.