Ball (NYSE:BALL) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $69.77 and last traded at $69.60, with a volume of 445536 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.45.

The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 5.04%. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 35.71%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BALL shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ball to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Ball in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.58.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In other Ball news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 26,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 37.2% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ball by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 53,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank raised its position in shares of Ball by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 295.3% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 48,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,245,000 after purchasing an additional 35,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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.