Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

AMBP has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.75 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Ardagh Metal Packaging in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $5.20 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardagh Metal Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.92.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMBP opened at $5.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.43. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.51. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 1-year low of $3.29 and a 1-year high of $5.47.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a negative return on equity of 27.93% and a net margin of 0.68%.Ardagh Metal Packaging’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 666.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 540.2% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 7,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 6,029 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Ardagh Metal Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging during the first quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.93% of the company’s stock.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Company Profile

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE: AMBP) is a global supplier of metal packaging solutions, specializing in the production of steel and aluminum beverage cans, food cans and ends. As a segment of the Ardagh Group, the company supports a broad range of food and beverage customers, including soft drink and craft beer producers, as well as food manufacturers requiring durable, recyclable packaging. Its product portfolio encompasses two‐piece and three‐piece cans, a variety of can ends and closures, and value‐added services such as custom lithography and decorating.

The company operates a network of manufacturing plants across North America and Europe, serving both regional and multinational clients.