Amcor Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AMCR)

Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 8,483 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 842% compared to the typical volume of 901 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Amcor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Amcor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Amcor from $10.50 to $10.80 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Amcor from $10.00 to $11.10 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amcor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.94.

Amcor Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE AMCR opened at $9.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.50. Amcor has a 12-month low of $8.78 and a 12-month high of $11.48.

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

Amcor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.1275 dividend. This is a boost from Amcor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Amcor’s dividend payout ratio is 94.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amcor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMCR. M&G Plc increased its holdings in shares of Amcor by 2,741.7% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 47,164,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,644,000 after acquiring an additional 45,504,608 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Amcor in the second quarter valued at approximately $781,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amcor by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,749,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,986 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in Amcor by 832.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 115,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 103,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Amcor during the 1st quarter worth $923,000. 45.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amcor

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.