Analysts Set Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) PT at $59.78

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.78.

Several brokerages have issued reports on BALL. Truist Financial cut their price target on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their target price on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Ball Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $51.69 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $50.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. Ball has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $70.97. The company has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Ball by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 6.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 26,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Crumly & Associates Inc. increased its position in Ball by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ball

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.