AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $119.00 to $129.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. AECOM traded as high as $116.76 and last traded at $115.28, with a volume of 127418 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.56.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ACM. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AECOM from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 27th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AECOM in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AECOM presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $119.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AECOM news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.34, for a total transaction of $4,890,416.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,601,837.52. This trade represents a 57.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AECOM

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ACM. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of AECOM by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,621 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AECOM during the first quarter worth about $1,085,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AECOM during the 1st quarter worth approximately $741,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in AECOM by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 87,301 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,564,000 after buying an additional 6,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in AECOM by 24.3% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 203,281 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,917,000 after buying an additional 39,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

AECOM Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. AECOM had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 25.28%. AECOM’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Analysts predict that AECOM will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AECOM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.73%.

AECOM announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, November 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.