Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 355 Shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. decreased its stake in AECOM (NYSE:ACM) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,339 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. AECOM comprises about 2.1% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in AECOM were worth $5,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AECOM by 5.5% during the second 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 raised its position 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 289,513 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of AECOM by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 768,266 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $79,339,000 after buying an additional 220,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of AECOM by 5.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 585,174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,431,000 after acquiring an additional 31,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AECOM Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ACM opened at $108.39 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. AECOM has a 52-week low of $82.23 and a 52-week high of $118.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.86. The firm has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.19.

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

AECOM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. This is an increase from AECOM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. AECOM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AECOM

In other news, CFO Gaurav Kapoor sold 42,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.