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

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $53.96 and last traded at $53.97, with a volume of 1214855 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.75.

Ball Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 6.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ball in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Ball in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 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.