Ball (NYSE:BALL) Upgraded to Neutral at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Ball (NYSE:BALL) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $58.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $62.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ball from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Ball Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $52.01 on Friday. Ball has a 1 year low of $51.96 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.81. The company has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.92, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ball in the third quarter worth $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Ball by 598.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Ball in the third quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 334.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.