Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $2.84, but opened at $2.75. Ardagh Metal Packaging shares last traded at $2.70, with a volume of 155,529 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMBP shares. Bank of America cut shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $4.90 to $4.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $3.35 target price (down previously from $3.60) on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $3.60 to $3.10 in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $3.37.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $3.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.65.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a positive return on equity of 1,760.00% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. Ardagh Metal Packaging's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. will post 0.16 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 Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Ardagh Metal Packaging's dividend payout ratio is presently -333.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 15,834.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,104,806 shares of the company's stock worth $19,245,000 after acquiring an additional 5,072,769 shares in the last quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging during the second quarter worth approximately $14,790,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 523.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,914,124 shares of the company's stock worth $10,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446,997 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,784,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,729,000 after buying an additional 11,963 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,778,166 shares of the company's stock worth $6,704,000 after buying an additional 489,146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.93% of the company's stock.

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.