Ball (NYSE:BALL) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $52.97 and last traded at $53.49, with a volume of 1947363 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Ball Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 3.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 298.9% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $774,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ball by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 364,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,967 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at about $504,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter valued at about $1,195,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.