Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Ardagh Metal Packaging shares fell 6.25% at the open, dropping from $4.80 to $4.50 before recovering to about $4.73. The stock remains below its 50-day moving average of $4.94 but above its 200-day average of $4.46.
• Analysts maintain a broadly cautious outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating from seven analysts and an average price target of $4.92. Recent targets from UBS and Wells Fargo were raised to $5.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to Hold.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $0.11 in EPS and $1.71 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year. Ardagh also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, implying an annualized yield of approximately 8.4%, though its payout ratio is unusually high at 666.67%.

Shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.80, but opened at $4.50. Ardagh Metal Packaging shares last traded at $4.7250, with a volume of 332,232 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.75 to $5.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.92.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Down 1.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.94 and a 200 day moving average of $4.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.51.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 27.93%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Ardagh Metal Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 666.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arini Captial Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,109,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 20.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,637,767 shares of the company's stock worth $18,779,000 after purchasing an additional 801,019 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP lifted its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 11,276.2% in the first quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 4,516,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,291,000 after buying an additional 4,476,638 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 28.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,269,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,243,000 after buying an additional 722,974 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,894,210 shares of the company's stock worth $11,722,000 after buying an additional 699,478 shares in the last quarter. 16.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ardagh Metal Packaging

Ardagh Metal Packaging SA NYSE: AMBP is a global supplier of sustainable, infinitely recyclable metal packaging. The company primarily manufactures beverage cans and ends for beer, soft drinks, energy drinks, sparkling water and other beverage products, serving branded consumer-goods companies, retailers and beverage producers.

The company operates production facilities across Europe, North America and Brazil. Its products are designed for a range of beverage formats and sizes, with a focus on lightweighting, recyclability and packaging solutions that support customers' sustainability objectives.

Ardagh Metal Packaging was formed through the separation of Ardagh Group's metal beverage packaging operations and became a publicly traded company in 2021 following a business combination with a special purpose acquisition company.

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