Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Reaches New 52-Week High After Earnings Beat

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $34.97 and last traded at $34.97, with a volume of 111642 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.22.

The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 13.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Aramark by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Aramark by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,783 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Aramark by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 141,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,986,000 after acquiring an additional 27,522 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,060,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at about $344,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.21 and its 200-day moving average is $31.96.

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.