Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 67,200,000 shares, a growth of 49.6% from the November 30th total of 44,920,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 11,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AMCR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Amcor from $10.50 to $10.80 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Macquarie raised shares of Amcor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Amcor from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.50 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amcor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amcor

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMCR. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Amcor by 8.4% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amcor by 9.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Amcor by 7.7% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 14,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Amcor by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Amcor by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 25,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. 45.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amcor Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AMCR stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.44. The stock had a trading volume of 9,460,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,901,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. Amcor has a 52-week low of $8.78 and a 52-week high of $11.48.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Amcor had a return on equity of 25.60% and a net margin of 5.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amcor will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.1275 per share. This is an increase from Amcor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Amcor’s dividend payout ratio is 96.23%.

Amcor Company Profile

Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries.