Ball (NYSE:BALL) Given New $57.00 Price Target at Barclays

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $61.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BALL. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $52.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. Ball has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $70.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Ball’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 72.4% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ball in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 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.