Payden & Rygel Acquires Shares of 117,500 AECOM (NYSE:ACM)

Payden & Rygel bought a new position in shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 117,500 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,951,000. Payden & Rygel owned about 0.08% of AECOM as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AECOM by 2.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AECOM by 2.4% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,571 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AECOM by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in AECOM by 2.0% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 8,508 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in AECOM by 3.5% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,124 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AECOM from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on AECOM from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of AECOM from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, AECOM currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.43.

AECOM Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AECOM stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $86.98. 671,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 867,452. AECOM has a 12-month low of $74.40 and a 12-month high of $92.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 223.03, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.43.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 14th. The construction company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01. AECOM had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 0.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 49.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AECOM will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

AECOM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 4th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 184.62%.

AECOM declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 commercial and government clients.