Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Up 3.5% – What’s Next?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $37.36 and last traded at $37.17. 225,306 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 2,021,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ARMK shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Trading Up 4.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.07. The stock has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Aramark by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in 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.