Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

ARMK has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Aramark from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.36.

Aramark Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Aramark stock opened at $36.95 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $38.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.97%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 69,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Aramark by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 32.0% in the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 2.3% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position 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 buying an additional 523 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.