BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 60,876 Shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its position in shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM) by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,031 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 60,876 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.05% of AECOM worth $7,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACM. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in AECOM in the second quarter worth about $46,109,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AECOM during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,201,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in AECOM by 451.9% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 481,769 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,617,000 after buying an additional 394,481 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AECOM by 18.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,628,924 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,573,000 after acquiring an additional 258,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of AECOM by 15.5% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,752,487 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,464,000 after acquiring an additional 235,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ACM. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AECOM in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AECOM from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on AECOM from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AECOM news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of AECOM stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.34, for a total transaction of $4,890,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,601,837.52. The trade was a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AECOM Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of ACM stock opened at $116.31 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.22. AECOM has a 1-year low of $82.23 and a 1-year high of $116.76. The company has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The construction company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.03. AECOM had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 25.46%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. AECOM’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AECOM will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AECOM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

AECOM announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, November 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AECOM Profile

AECOM, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional infrastructure consulting services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital. The company offers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, construction and program management, and investment and development services to public and private clients.