Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target Increased to $72.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $71.00 to $72.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on BALL. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a sell rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Ball from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ball in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.23.

Ball Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Ball stock opened at $69.89 on Monday. Ball has a twelve month low of $42.81 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a PE ratio of 5.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ball will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.02%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ball

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 5.4% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Ball by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 138,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,914,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.