Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Stock Price

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its target price boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ARMK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aramark in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $44.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Aramark from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $46.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.83.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $37.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.12. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.92 and a 52-week high of $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.58.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 17th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.08). Aramark had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $5.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Aramark has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.180-2.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aramark

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Aramark during the third quarter valued at approximately $132,157,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $135,218,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 281.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,367,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,484,319 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its position in Aramark by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 13,037,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark in the second quarter worth $64,902,000.

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.