Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,570,000 shares, a decline of 31.8% from the November 30th total of 9,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.59.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE ARMK traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,241,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,190,828. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.11 and a 200-day moving average of $36.80. The company has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 37.63 and a beta of 1.63. Aramark has a 1-year low of $27.47 and a 1-year high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.42%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Aramark by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.7% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 54,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 110.5% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 135,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,614,000 after purchasing an additional 71,189 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 7.7% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 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.