Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) Short Interest Update

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, a growth of 108.9% from the December 15th total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $4.90 to $4.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $3.60 to $3.10 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $3.35 price target (down from $3.60) on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.25 to $2.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.37.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE AMBP traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $2.80. 1,688,225 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,663,073. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3.30 and its 200-day moving average is $3.51. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 1 year low of $2.66 and a 1 year high of $4.26.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 1,760.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.31%. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -333.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMBP. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 15,834.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,104,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,245,000 after buying an additional 5,072,769 shares in the last quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in the second quarter worth approximately $14,790,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 523.8% in 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,778,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,704,000 after purchasing an additional 489,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,325,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,505,000 after purchasing an additional 433,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.93% of the company’s stock.

About Ardagh Metal Packaging

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.