Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.08.

A number of research analysts recently commented on BALL shares. TheStreet raised Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ball from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ball in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Ball Stock Down 1.6 %

BALL stock opened at $69.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a PE ratio of 5.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.48. Ball has a 52 week low of $42.81 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.02%.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of Ball stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 80.4% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.