Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) Lifted to “Buy” at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $5.10 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $3.80.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AMBP. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $5.00 to $3.75 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $4.25 to $5.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.08.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE AMBP opened at $4.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 124.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.29, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.62. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 1 year low of $2.57 and a 1 year high of $4.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.67.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a negative net margin of 1.02% and a positive return on equity of 114.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 12th. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -285.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ardagh Metal Packaging during the second quarter valued at $14,790,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 523.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,914,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446,997 shares during the period. Sona Asset Management US LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in the first quarter worth about $4,288,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 48.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,325,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,505,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 422.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 319,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 258,067 shares during the period. 16.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.