Ball (NYSE:BALL) Given New $54.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial dropped 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. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.20.

Ball Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of BALL opened at $47.10 on Monday. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $46.14 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.63 and its 200 day moving average is $57.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a PE ratio of 3.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted 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 buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.