AECOM (NYSE:ACM) Lowered to “Sell” at Zacks Investment Research

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Friday, July 21st.

According to Zacks, “AECOM has been suffering on account of uncertainties surrounding the Trump administration’s infrastructure spending plans. Concerns about economic growth are also hurting the company’s prospects. AECOM’s shares have underperformed the Zacks categorized Engineering/R&D Services industry average. Over the past one year, AECOM’s shares have underperformed the Zacks categorized Engineering/R&D Services industry average. Volatility in the oil and gas market, with declining prices and contracting spending levels, has been restraining the company’s projects and orders. Moreover, cyclical demand of the company’s services and currency fluctuations are likely to thwart growth, going forward. On the positive side, the company remains optimistic that favorable political climate will eventually drive solid growth of the infrastructure and defense markets globally.”

Several other brokerages have also commented on ACM. Argus cut their price target on shares of AECOM from $43.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 2nd. UBS AG set a $38.00 target price on shares of AECOM and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 26th. Credit Suisse Group AG reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of AECOM in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Citigroup Inc. reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $45.00) on shares of AECOM in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $38.00 target price (down previously from $41.00) on shares of AECOM in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.10.

Shares of AECOM (NYSE ACM) traded down 1.91% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.82. 576,160 shares of the stock were exchanged. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.05. AECOM has a 52-week low of $26.46 and a 52-week high of $40.72. The company has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 1.75.

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The construction company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.78. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. AECOM had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 12.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AECOM will post $2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACM. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AECOM by 4.9% in the first quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,410 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in shares of AECOM by 39.8% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 4,110 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Financial Architects Inc boosted its stake in shares of AECOM by 30.8% in the first quarter. Financial Architects Inc now owns 4,584 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Global X Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of AECOM by 220.7% in the second quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,388 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of AECOM by 12.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,359 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. 82.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AECOM Company Profile

AECOM is engaged in designing, building, financing and operating infrastructure assets for governments, businesses and organizations. The Company’s segments include design and consulting services (DCS), construction services (CS) and management services (MS). Its DCS segment is engaged in planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design services to commercial and government clients in major end markets, such as transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, water and government.

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