AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Short Interest Update

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a growth of 11.3% from the November 15th total of 1,770,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 825,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ACM shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AECOM from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 27th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of AECOM from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on AECOM from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AECOM in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AECOM has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.38.

AECOM Price Performance

AECOM stock opened at $111.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.77. AECOM has a 1 year low of $82.23 and a 1 year high of $118.56.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. AECOM had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AECOM will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AECOM declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, November 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AECOM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. AECOM’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AECOM news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.34, for a total transaction of $4,890,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,601,837.52. This trade represents a 57.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AECOM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ACM. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AECOM by 5.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in AECOM by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 72,823 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,694 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in AECOM by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,102 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AECOM by 17.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,120,000 after buying an additional 10,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AECOM during the second quarter worth $46,109,000. 85.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AECOM

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.