Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 105,457 Shares of Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,969,613 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 105,457 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Amcor were worth $22,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Amcor by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 101,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 3,828 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Amcor by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 9,927 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Amcor by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 25,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Amcor by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,002,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,804,000 after purchasing an additional 125,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amcor by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 566,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,536,000 after purchasing an additional 106,125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.14% of the company’s stock.

Amcor Trading Up 0.6 %

Amcor stock opened at $9.49 on Thursday. Amcor plc has a 12 month low of $8.78 and a 12 month high of $11.48. The company has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Amcor had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 25.60%. Amcor’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amcor plc will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amcor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.1275 dividend. This is a positive change from Amcor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Amcor’s payout ratio is presently 96.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Amcor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Amcor from $10.50 to $10.80 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Macquarie upgraded Amcor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Amcor from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.50 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.20.

About Amcor

Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries.