Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) Upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $3.10 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $3.60.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AMBP. Bank of America cut shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $4.90 to $4.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $5.00 to $3.60 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.41.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AMBP opened at $2.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.65. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 1-year low of $2.66 and a 1-year high of $4.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 124.21, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.18%. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently -333.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMBP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 493,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 182,906 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 5,009 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 11.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 165,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 17,104 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 14.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 215,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 26,865 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 749,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,550,000 after buying an additional 15,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.93% of the company’s stock.

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.