Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.22 and last traded at $38.06. 167,484 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 2,001,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ARMK. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Aramark Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 20.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 112.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 10.7% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 77,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,995,000 after buying an additional 7,498 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 10.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the period.

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.