Ball (NYSE:BALL) PT Raised to $72.00 at Barclays

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $71.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.03% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ball in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $61.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.23.

Ball Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BALL stock opened at $69.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.21, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $65.95 and a 200-day moving average of $59.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Ball has a 1-year low of $42.81 and a 1-year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings 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. bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth $29,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at $46,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.