Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Reaches New 52-Week High at $38.03

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $38.03 and last traded at $37.87, with a volume of 1095064 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.89.

Aramark Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 391,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,008,000 after acquiring an additional 33,206 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 84.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,192,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,498,000 after purchasing an additional 546,796 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after purchasing an additional 55,249 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter worth $75,477,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,584,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,917,000 after buying an additional 139,693 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.