Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

ARMK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $36.89.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK opened at $38.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.19. Aramark has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $38.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Aramark by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 8,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,674,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,045,000 after acquiring an additional 51,219 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 233.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 63,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 44,790 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Aramark by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,845,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,066,000 after acquiring an additional 417,472 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.