Ball (NYSE:BALL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at UBS Group from $54.00 to $60.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 2.70% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on BALL. Loop Capital cut their price target on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.36.

Ball Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE BALL opened at $58.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.70 and a 200-day moving average of $52.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. Ball has a 52 week low of $43.51 and a 52 week high of $68.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,401,000. Amundi grew its position in Ball by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,302,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,742,000 after buying an additional 301,246 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Ball by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,055,000 after buying an additional 1,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Ball by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 41,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.