Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Stock Position in Amcor PLC $AMCR

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Amcor PLC by 64.5% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 43,378 shares valued at approximately $1,016,000.
• Amcor recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1275 per share, resulting in an annual dividend of $0.51 and a yield of 6.4%, despite a high payout ratio of 141.67%.
• Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Amcor’s price target from $10.00 to $11.00, with a majority of analysts rating the stock a "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.09.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Amcor PLC (NYSE:AMCR - Free Report) by 64.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,602 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,378 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Amcor were worth $1,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amcor by 18,725.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,012 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in Amcor by 839.8% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,026 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. bought a new position in Amcor in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amcor in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. bought a new position in Amcor in the second quarter worth about $29,000. 45.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amcor

In other news, Director Stephen E. Sterrett acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.55 per share, for a total transaction of $85,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Amcor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Amcor in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Amcor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Truist Financial set a $11.00 price target on shares of Amcor and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Amcor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.20 price target for the company in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.09.

Amcor Price Performance

AMCR stock opened at $7.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.04. Amcor PLC has a 52-week low of $7.81 and a 52-week high of $11.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.01). Amcor had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 19.43%. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Amcor's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Amcor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.830 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amcor PLC will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.1275 per share. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Amcor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 141.67%.

Amcor Profile

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.

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