Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.11 Per Share

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.105 per share on Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.001.

Aramark has decreased its dividend by an average of 3.9% per year over the last three years. Aramark has a payout ratio of 18.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Aramark to earn $2.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,578,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,110. Aramark has a twelve month low of $28.39 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82 and a beta of 1.64.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARMK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.59.

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.