Short Interest in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Declines By 26.9%

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,090,000 shares, a decline of 26.9% from the May 15th total of 11,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ARMK shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.73.

Aramark Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $39.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.01. The company has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Aramark has a one year low of $29.92 and a one year high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Aramark had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Aramark's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.07%. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 32.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Aramark by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock worth $507,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,263,817 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,949,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,940,214 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its stake 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, PointState Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 135.4% in the 4th quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 2,690,617 shares of the company's stock worth $100,387,000 after buying an additional 1,547,792 shares during the last quarter.

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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