Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.68, but opened at $34.37. Aramark shares last traded at $34.31, with a volume of 249,887 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARMK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.08.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Aramark by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Aramark by 100.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 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.