Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) Short Interest Update

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,350,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the July 15th total of 3,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Up 2.1 %

AMBP traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $3.45. 312,451 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,387,285. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of -24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 124.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a one year low of $2.57 and a one year high of $4.17.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a negative net margin of 1.02% and a positive return on equity of 114.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s payout ratio is presently -285.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMBP. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 50,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 48,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 4,922 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 5,009 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 21,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 6,531 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $5.00 to $3.75 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $3.95 to $4.25 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.67.

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.