Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) Short Interest Update

Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 130,510,000 shares, an increase of 26.0% from the February 13th total of 103,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 19,560,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Amcor

In related news, Director Achal Agarwal purchased 10,000 shares of Amcor stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.10 per share, for a total transaction of $101,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 88,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,566.70. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amcor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMCR. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Amcor by 3,410.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Amcor by 247.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Amcor by 2,064.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Amcor by 3,794.1% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Amcor by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. 45.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amcor Stock Performance

Shares of AMCR stock opened at $9.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.32. Amcor has a 12 month low of $8.80 and a 12 month high of $11.48. The firm has a market cap of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.80.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Amcor had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 26.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Amcor will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.1275 per share. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Amcor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMCR shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Amcor from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.50 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Macquarie upgraded shares of Amcor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Amcor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $12.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.46.

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.