Morgan Stanley Boosts Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target to $38.00

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Aramark from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Five 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $36.54.

Aramark Price Performance

NYSE:ARMK opened at $37.99 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.03. Aramark has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $38.11. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.095 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 15.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aramark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,584,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,917,000 after acquiring an additional 139,693 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,712,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,141,000 after purchasing an additional 98,506 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,602,000 after buying an additional 923,683 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,391,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,501,000 after buying an additional 681,735 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,983,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,037,000 after buying an additional 1,081,358 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.