Analyzing Ball (BALL) and The Competition

Ball (NYSE:BALL) is one of 70 public companies in the “Containers & Packaging” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Ball to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and profitability.

Dividends

Ball pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ball pays out 22.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Containers & Packaging” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.1% and pay out -106.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ball lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Ball has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ball’s peers have a beta of 0.80, meaning that their average stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ball and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ball	$13.16 billion	$912.00 million	17.70
Ball Competitors	$8.01 billion	$208.36 million	14.36

Ball has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Ball is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Ball and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ball	6.61%	18.76%	5.35%
Ball Competitors	-28.74%	-31.79%	2.15%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Ball and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ball	1	4	8	0	2.54
Ball Competitors	383	2322	3371	84	2.51

Ball currently has a consensus target price of $71.69, indicating a potential upside of 14.73%. As a group, “Containers & Packaging” companies have a potential upside of 29.94%. Given Ball’s peers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ball has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.5% of Ball shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.4% of shares of all “Containers & Packaging” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Ball shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of shares of all “Containers & Packaging” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ball beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It also manufactures and sells extruded aluminum aerosol containers, recloseable aluminum bottles, aluminum cups, and aluminum slugs. Ball Corporation was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.