Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a growth of 55.1% from the February 13th total of 3,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of AMBP traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.90. 2,448,209 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,429,417. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 1-year low of $2.50 and a 1-year high of $4.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.76 and a 200-day moving average of $3.29.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a positive return on equity of 1,760.00% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.82%. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s payout ratio is -800.00%.

Institutional Trading of Ardagh Metal Packaging

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 15,834.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,104,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,245,000 after acquiring an additional 5,072,769 shares during the period. Diameter Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Diameter Capital Partners LP now owns 4,374,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,166,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,421,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,300,000 after purchasing an additional 312,640 shares in the last quarter. Solas Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Solas Capital Management LLC now owns 3,361,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,118,000 after acquiring an additional 330,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Street Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,550,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550,000 shares during the period. 16.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMBP has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lowered Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $4.90 to $4.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $3.35 target price (down from $3.60) on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.25 to $2.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $3.60 to $3.10 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.44.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Company Profile

Ardagh Metal Packaging SA, together with its subsidiaries, supplies consumer metal beverage cans in Europe, the United States, and Brazil. Its products are used in various end-use categories, including beer, carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, hard seltzers, juices, pre-mixed cocktails, teas, sparkling waters, and wine.