Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.46.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Macquarie raised shares of Amcor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. 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 note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup raised shares of Amcor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Amcor from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.50 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Amcor Price Performance

NYSE:AMCR opened at $9.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.45. Amcor has a 1-year low of $8.78 and a 1-year high of $11.48.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Amcor had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 25.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Amcor will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Amcor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.1275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Amcor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Amcor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amcor

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amcor by 3,410.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amcor during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amcor during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Amcor by 3,794.1% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Amcor by 296.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. 45.14% of the stock is 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.