Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.09 and last traded at $41.99, with a volume of 59922 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.23.

Aramark Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.63. The firm has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.25 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 42.42%.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Aramark by 360.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Aramark in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 319.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter.

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.