Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $8.94, but opened at $9.56. Amcor shares last traded at $9.64, with a volume of 2,242,612 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.01. Amcor had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 24.28%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Amcor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. Amcor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Amcor from $9.90 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amcor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amcor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 19.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 3.2% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 46,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 7.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 720,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,598,000 after buying an additional 48,499 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 5.5% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 100,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 5,255 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 2.9% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 218,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,000,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares during the period. 45.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amcor Trading Up 10.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.19 and its 200 day moving average is $9.27. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.78.

Amcor Company Profile

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.