Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) Short Interest Up 7.1% in October

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the September 30th total of 2,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMBP shares. UBS Group lowered Ardagh Metal Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $5.00 to $3.75 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America upgraded Ardagh Metal Packaging from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3.80 to $5.10 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ardagh Metal Packaging from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $4.25 to $5.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.08.

Institutional Trading of Ardagh Metal Packaging

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Ardagh Metal Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth $14,790,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,065,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,655,000 after buying an additional 106,206 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 48.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,325,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,505,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 422.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 319,165 shares of the company's stock worth $1,085,000 after buying an additional 258,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 112,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. 16.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of AMBP stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3.64. 1,295,394 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,372,207. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $3.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of -30.58, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.62. Ardagh Metal Packaging has a 1 year low of $3.16 and a 1 year high of $4.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 124.21.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.01. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a positive return on equity of 1,760.00% and a negative net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. Ardagh Metal Packaging's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ardagh Metal Packaging will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Ardagh Metal Packaging's payout ratio is currently -333.31%.

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.