Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price Down 2.3% – What’s Next?

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s share price was down 2.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $37.75 and last traded at $37.78. Approximately 1,121,973 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 2,047,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARMK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Aramark Stock Down 2.3 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.94. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Aramark by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,182,000 after buying an additional 5,263,817 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at $88,949,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after buying an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,376,000 after buying an additional 860,179 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.