Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Short Interest Update

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,940,000 shares, a growth of 46.4% from the August 31st total of 4,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,603,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,289,012. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.64. Aramark has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $38.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 1.62. 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 results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Aramark

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aramark during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Twin Tree Management LP grew its holdings in Aramark by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 319.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 44,750.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ARMK shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.36.

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.