Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,341,875 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 3,413,814 shares.The stock last traded at $37.69 and had previously closed at $37.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARMK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Aramark from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Barclays raised their price target on Aramark from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. UBS Group raised Aramark from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, TheStreet raised Aramark from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.18.

Aramark Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.06. The company has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.02. Aramark had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 2.97%. The company had revenue of $4.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 21.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Aramark by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Company Profile

Aramark provides food, facilities, and uniform services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Food and Support Services United States, Food and Support Services International, and Uniform and Career Apparel.