Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR - Free Report) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,969,613 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 105,457 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Amcor worth $22,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMCR. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amcor by 3,410.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amcor during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Amcor during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Amcor by 3,794.1% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Amcor by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,656 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.14% of the company's stock.

Amcor Price Performance

Amcor stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.46. 13,904,539 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,903,153. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.49. The stock has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.82. Amcor plc has a one year low of $8.78 and a one year high of $11.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Amcor had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 25.60%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Amcor plc will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.1275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. This is a positive change from Amcor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Amcor's dividend payout ratio is currently 96.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMCR shares. UBS Group raised Amcor from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Amcor from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $12.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Amcor from $10.50 to $10.80 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Macquarie upgraded Amcor from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.20.

About Amcor

Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries.