Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,570,000 shares, a drop of 8.0% from the January 15th total of 7,140,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ball in the third quarter worth $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position 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 increased its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth about $66,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BALL stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,685,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,749,963. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a PE ratio of 3.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball has a 52-week low of $49.00 and a 52-week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ball will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial cut their price objective 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, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.25.

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.