Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in AECOM (NYSE:ACM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,400 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AECOM were worth $4,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of AECOM by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,339,185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $206,176,000 after purchasing an additional 122,015 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of AECOM by 15.5% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,752,487 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,464,000 after buying an additional 235,350 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of AECOM by 18.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,628,924 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,573,000 after buying an additional 258,250 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of AECOM by 67.8% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 808,192 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,897,000 after buying an additional 326,423 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in AECOM by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 585,174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,431,000 after acquiring an additional 31,299 shares in the last quarter. 85.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AECOM from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AECOM from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on AECOM from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $119.38.

AECOM Stock Performance

Shares of ACM stock opened at $116.74 on Wednesday. AECOM has a 12 month low of $82.23 and a 12 month high of $118.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.44, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.42.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 18th. The construction company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. AECOM had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AECOM will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AECOM Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a boost from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.73%.

AECOM announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, November 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.34, for a total value of $4,890,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,601,837.52. The trade was a 57.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AECOM 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.