Traders Purchase Large Volume of Amcor Call Options (NYSE:AMCR)

Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 15,246 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 991% compared to the average volume of 1,397 call options.

Insider Transactions at Amcor

In other news, Director Achal Agarwal bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.10 per share, for a total transaction of $101,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 88,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,566.70. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amcor

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMCR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amcor by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,986,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,868 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Amcor by 31.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,544,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,664 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Amcor by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 719,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,162,000 after purchasing an additional 203,166 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Amcor during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,919,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Amcor in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,605,000. 45.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amcor Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of AMCR opened at $9.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amcor has a 52 week low of $8.37 and a 52 week high of $11.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.79 and a 200-day moving average of $10.09.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Amcor had a return on equity of 26.14% and a net margin of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amcor will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.1275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. Amcor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upgraded Amcor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.46.

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.