Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target Raised to $44.00

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its price objective upped by Robert W. Baird from $38.00 to $44.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ARMK. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.37. The company had a trading volume of 54,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,215,129. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $26.58 and a fifty-two week high of $42.04.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.001 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Aramark by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 360.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP grew its position in shares of Aramark by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000.

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.