Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Now Covered by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK stock opened at $36.72 on Monday. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.10.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 112.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in Aramark by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 471.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 97,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 80,300 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 601.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 50,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after buying an additional 43,469 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 7.3% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the period.

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.