Wells Fargo & Company Raises Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target to $69.00

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $69.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 2.10% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. TheStreet raised shares of Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.08.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,394,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,857,363. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.30, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.11. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $70.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 80.4% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth $29,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth $31,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in Ball during the first quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 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.