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

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) was the target of a large increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at about $333,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 641,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,290 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 39,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 45,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.93% of the company’s stock.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Price Performance

NYSE:AMBP traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.65. 628,413 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,368,941. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.69. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 52-week low of $3.16 and a 52-week 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.96%. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently -333.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMBP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $5.00 to $3.75 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $3.80 to $5.10 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $4.25 to $5.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.08.

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.