Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the October 15th total of 6,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Baird R W raised Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.92. 2,020,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,807,068. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.90. Ball has a 1 year low of $51.62 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Ball by 44.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 63,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,000 after purchasing an additional 19,481 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ball by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 93,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,339,000 after buying an additional 6,963 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth $2,313,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 24.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 3,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ball by 10.7% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.