Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) Short Interest Down 5.3% in March

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the March 15th total of 3,960,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMBP. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ardagh Metal Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ardagh Metal Packaging from $3.70 to $3.75 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $3.00 price objective (down from $4.00) on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $3.20 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America cut Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $4.10 to $3.50 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.31.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Trading Down 2.3 %

AMBP stock opened at $3.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of -27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.34, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.99. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a one year low of $2.57 and a one year high of $4.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $3.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.53.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.03). Ardagh Metal Packaging had a positive return on equity of 38.48% and a negative net margin of 1.04%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.05 EPS. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s payout ratio is -333.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMBP. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 435,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 2,915 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 66.8% during the second quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3,359 shares during the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 29.7% in the third quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 3,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 3,412 shares during the last quarter. 16.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.