Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $42.50 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $36.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ARMK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aramark from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Aramark from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $37.36.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $37.75 on Tuesday. Aramark has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.42. The company has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.62.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 1.93%. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Aramark’s payout ratio is currently 15.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Aramark by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 391,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,008,000 after purchasing an additional 33,206 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Aramark by 84.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,192,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,498,000 after purchasing an additional 546,796 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,160,000 after purchasing an additional 55,249 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in Aramark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,477,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 139,693 shares during the period.

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.