Ball (NYSE:BALL) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $51.02 and last traded at $51.48, with a volume of 1082210 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $55.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BALL shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.25.

Ball Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.98 and a 200-day moving average of $61.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 3.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Ball in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 8.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the second quarter worth $1,453,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Ball by 143.6% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Ball by 4.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.