StockNews.com Downgrades Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) to Hold

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ARMK. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.59.

Aramark Trading Up 1.5 %

Aramark stock opened at $36.83 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Aramark has a 12 month low of $28.30 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.96. The stock has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20 and a beta of 1.64.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Aramark by 6.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Aramark by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430,131 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Aramark by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,427,000 after purchasing an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Aramark by 18.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 720,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Aramark by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after buying an additional 45,384 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.