Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.27.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $66.00 price target (down from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Ball Trading Down 0.3%

Ball stock opened at $58.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.08. Ball has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $68.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.83.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 47.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 267,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,745,000 after buying an additional 51,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $980,000. Institutional investors 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.