AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Short Interest Up 16.2% in July

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,010,000 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the July 15th total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 888,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

AECOM Stock Performance

NYSE:ACM traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $96.46. The stock had a trading volume of 406,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,770. AECOM has a 52-week low of $74.40 and a 52-week high of $98.72. The stock has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,071.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.76.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.04. AECOM had a negative net margin of 0.09% and a positive return on equity of 22.73%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AECOM will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

AECOM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -977.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACM. Barclays increased their target price on AECOM from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AECOM from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of AECOM from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of AECOM from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on AECOM from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, AECOM currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $105.00.

Institutional Trading of AECOM

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AECOM in the first quarter worth $25,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in AECOM in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AECOM during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AECOM in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of AECOM in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

About AECOM

AECOM, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional infrastructure consulting services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital. The company offers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, construction and program management, and investment and development services to public and private clients.