Ball (NYSE:BALL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Ball (NYSE:BALL) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share.

Ball Price Performance

BALL traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $64.49. 1,219,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,933,196. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Ball has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $20.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.85.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.23.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.