AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, an increase of 41.3% from the September 15th total of 2,180,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 873,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACM. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on AECOM from $99.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AECOM from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AECOM from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered AECOM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on AECOM from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.86.

AECOM Price Performance

ACM stock opened at $106.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,181.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. AECOM has a 52-week low of $74.40 and a 52-week high of $106.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.33.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The construction company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. AECOM had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 1.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that AECOM will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AECOM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio is currently -977.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AECOM

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of AECOM by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,658 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after buying an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of AECOM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its holdings in shares of AECOM by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 9,567 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in AECOM in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in AECOM in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

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.