Short Interest in Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) Increases By 7.1%

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the September 30th total of 2,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMBP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $4.25 to $5.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $5.00 to $3.75 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $3.80 to $5.10 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardagh Metal Packaging currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMBP. King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,790,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 523.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,914,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446,997 shares during the last quarter. Sona Asset Management US LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging during the first quarter valued at about $4,288,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 433,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 258,067 shares in the last quarter. 16.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Up 0.3 %

AMBP stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 95,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,547. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of -30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $3.72 and its 200-day moving average is $3.69. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 12 month low of $3.16 and a 12 month high of $4.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 124.21.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.01. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a positive return on equity of 1,760.00% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.84%. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently -333.31%.

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.