South Dakota Investment Council Sells 82,963 Shares of Amcor PLC $AMCR

South Dakota Investment Council cut its stake in shares of Amcor PLC (NYSE:AMCR) by 80.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82,963 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Amcor were worth $824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Amcor by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 141,509,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,180,190,000 after buying an additional 2,432,340 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC grew its position in shares of Amcor by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. M&G PLC now owns 114,989,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,917,000 after buying an additional 6,655,611 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,335,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $945,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845,627 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amcor by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,095,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amcor by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,202,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,487,000 after acquiring an additional 262,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMCR shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amcor from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Amcor from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Amcor from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Amcor in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $43.00 target price on Amcor and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amcor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.08.

Amcor Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:AMCR opened at $44.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. Amcor PLC has a twelve month low of $36.25 and a twelve month high of $50.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.96. Amcor had a net margin of 3.06% and a return on equity of 14.55%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 77.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Amcor PLC will post 3.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Amcor’s payout ratio is currently 181.82%.

Amcor Profile

Amcor (NYSE: AMCR) is a global packaging company specializing in the design, development and production of flexible and rigid packaging solutions for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal care, and other consumer and industrial products. The company’s product portfolio encompasses flexible films, pouches, specialty cartons, rigid containers, metal closures and dispensing systems. Amcor’s packaging solutions are engineered to preserve product quality, extend shelf life and meet the specific requirements of a wide range of end markets.

Founded in its current form in 2005 following a spin-off from a mining conglomerate, Amcor expanded its capabilities and geographic footprint through organic investments and strategic acquisitions.