AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Shares Acquired by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM) by 2.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,402 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AECOM were worth $3,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 122,015 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 235,350 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in AECOM by 18.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 258,250 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in AECOM by 67.8% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 808,192 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,897,000 after purchasing an additional 326,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in AECOM during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AECOM

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACM. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AECOM in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of AECOM from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AECOM from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $119.38.

AECOM Stock Performance

NYSE:ACM opened at $116.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.17. AECOM has a fifty-two week low of $82.23 and a fifty-two week high of $118.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.25.

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

AECOM declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, November 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AECOM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. AECOM’s payout ratio is presently 29.73%.

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.