Short Interest in AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Rises By 11.3%

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, an increase of 11.3% from the November 15th total of 1,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 825,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at AECOM

In other news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of AECOM stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,228 shares in the company, valued at $3,601,837.52. This trade represents a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AECOM

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AECOM by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,621 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in AECOM by 13.6% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 72,823 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,419,000 after acquiring an additional 8,694 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in AECOM by 5.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 258,680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,714,000 after acquiring an additional 12,224 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in AECOM by 60.5% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 26,051 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 9,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in AECOM during the third quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ACM shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on AECOM from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AECOM from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of AECOM in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, AECOM has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.38.

AECOM Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ACM opened at $110.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 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 has a 1 year low of $82.23 and a 1 year high of $118.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.87.

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

AECOM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. AECOM’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

AECOM declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, November 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

AECOM Company 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.