Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $46.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AMCR. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amcor in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Amcor from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Amcor from $9.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.14.

Amcor Price Performance

NYSE:AMCR opened at $44.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.68. Amcor has a 12 month low of $38.33 and a 12 month high of $52.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.70.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Amcor had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 17.35%. Amcor’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amcor will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. This is a positive change from Amcor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. Amcor’s payout ratio is presently 152.94%.

Institutional Trading of Amcor

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amcor by 61.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,228,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,996,000 after purchasing an additional 42,122,135 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Amcor by 41.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 129,701,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,961,000 after purchasing an additional 37,982,310 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Amcor in the second quarter valued at about $328,839,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amcor by 62.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,770,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $742,279,000 after buying an additional 30,938,660 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its holdings in Amcor by 26.6% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 108,333,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,672,000 after buying an additional 22,737,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.14% of the company’s stock.

About Amcor

Amcor (NYSE: AMCR) is a global packaging company specializing in the design, development and production of flexible and rigid packaging solutions for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal care, and other consumer and industrial products. The company’s product portfolio encompasses flexible films, pouches, specialty cartons, rigid containers, metal closures and dispensing systems. Amcor’s packaging solutions are engineered to preserve product quality, extend shelf life and meet the specific requirements of a wide range of end markets.

Founded in its current form in 2005 following a spin-off from a mining conglomerate, Amcor expanded its capabilities and geographic footprint through organic investments and strategic acquisitions.