AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the August 15th total of 2,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 845,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ACM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AECOM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $159,060,000. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in AECOM during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,109,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its position in AECOM by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 2,561,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $251,215,000 after purchasing an additional 472,944 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in AECOM by 451.9% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 481,769 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,617,000 after purchasing an additional 394,481 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in AECOM by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,628,924 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,573,000 after purchasing an additional 258,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

AECOM Price Performance

Shares of ACM stock traded up $0.71 on Wednesday, reaching $98.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,143,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,624. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a PE ratio of -1,091.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 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 has a one year low of $74.40 and a one year high of $102.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.75 and its 200 day moving average is $92.08.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.04. AECOM had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 1.61%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AECOM will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AECOM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio is currently -977.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AECOM from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AECOM from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AECOM from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $107.00) on shares of AECOM in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of AECOM from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

AECOM Company Profile

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.