Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,840,000 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the March 15th total of 5,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.04.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARMK traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $31.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,537,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,483,609. Aramark has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $33.04. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.05. Aramark had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 15.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Aramark by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark in the 1st quarter valued at about $174,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,897,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,358,000 after purchasing an additional 198,530 shares in 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.