Analysts Set Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Price Target at $65.58

Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.58.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ball to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Ball from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $74.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company.

Ball Stock Up 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $69.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.11. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.89. Ball has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $70.75.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Ball had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ball news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.