Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Reduces Stake in AECOM (NYSE:ACM)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. lowered its stake in shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 48,339 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. AECOM accounts for 2.1% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in AECOM were worth $5,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ACM. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in AECOM by 12.5% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 10,621 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AECOM by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 258,680 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,714,000 after buying an additional 12,224 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AECOM by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 768,266 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $79,339,000 after acquiring an additional 220,035 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in AECOM by 60.5% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 26,051 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 9,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in AECOM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $495,000. Institutional investors own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AECOM news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,601,837.52. The trade was a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACM. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AECOM from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of AECOM from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on AECOM from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on AECOM from $122.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $119.25.

AECOM Stock Up 2.4 %

ACM opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.19. AECOM has a one year low of $82.23 and a one year high of $118.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

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

AECOM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. AECOM’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

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.