AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

AECOM (NYSE:ACM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $118.56 and last traded at $116.74, with a volume of 1268474 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AECOM from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AECOM in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AECOM from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on AECOM from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $119.38.

AECOM Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.59. The stock has a market cap of $15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.44, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.17.

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

AECOM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.73%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AECOM news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.34, for a total transaction of $4,890,416.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,228 shares in the company, valued at $3,601,837.52. This trade represents a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 122,015 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AECOM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,270,408 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $233,918,000 after purchasing an additional 14,511 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in AECOM by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,989,238 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $205,429,000 after purchasing an additional 289,513 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in AECOM by 15.5% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in AECOM by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,628,924 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,573,000 after purchasing an additional 258,250 shares during the period. 85.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AECOM

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.