Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.67 and traded as high as $4.75. Ardagh Metal Packaging shares last traded at $4.7250, with a volume of 1,697,832 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMBP. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging from $4.50 to $4.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $5.20 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardagh Metal Packaging in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.88.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Stock Up 5.0%

The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 52.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.67 and its 200 day moving average is $4.48.

Ardagh Metal Packaging (NYSE:AMBP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.08. Ardagh Metal Packaging had a net margin of 0.93% and a negative return on equity of 23.24%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.5%. Ardagh Metal Packaging’s payout ratio is 444.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardagh Metal Packaging

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 20.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,637,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,779,000 after purchasing an additional 801,019 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP boosted its position in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 11,276.2% during the first quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 4,516,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,291,000 after purchasing an additional 4,476,638 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 28.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,269,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,243,000 after purchasing an additional 722,974 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 31.9% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,894,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,722,000 after purchasing an additional 699,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ardagh Metal Packaging by 0.7% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 869,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.93% of the company’s stock.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Company Profile

Ardagh Metal Packaging SA (NYSE: AMBP) is a global manufacturer of beverage cans and related metal packaging. The company produces aluminum and steel cans, ends and other components used for beer, soft drinks, energy drinks, sparkling water, juices and other beverages. Its products are supplied to major beverage companies, regional brands and contract manufacturers.

The company operates production and design facilities across Europe, North America and South America, including Brazil. Its packaging is designed to support brand presentation, product protection and efficient distribution, while metal cans can be recycled repeatedly without losing their basic properties.

Ardagh Metal Packaging became a separately listed public company in 2021 through a business combination involving Ardagh Group’s metal packaging business and Gores Holdings V.