Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 4,842 Shares of AECOM (NYSE:ACM)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in AECOM (NYSE:ACM) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,610,334 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,842 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.16% of AECOM worth $136,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ACM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AECOM by 106,750.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,422,418 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $290,666,000 after buying an additional 3,419,215 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AECOM in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,427,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AECOM by 17.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,881,712 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,339,146,000 after buying an additional 2,384,361 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AECOM by 106.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,315,066 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,525,000 after buying an additional 1,709,275 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in AECOM in the second quarter worth about $128,990,000. Institutional investors own 84.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AECOM

In other AECOM news, Director Douglas Stotlar sold 9,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.76, for a total value of $836,453.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,454,609.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of AECOM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AECOM from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 15th. Citigroup dropped 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. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on shares of AECOM from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.43.

AECOM Price Performance

ACM opened at $86.86 on Tuesday. AECOM has a one year low of $74.40 and a one year high of $92.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 222.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30.

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

AECOM declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AECOM Increases Dividend

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

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.