Ball (NYSE:BALL) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $48.95 and last traded at $49.18, with a volume of 357027 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.25.

Ball Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.89, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Ball in the fourth quarter worth $5,590,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Ball in the fourth quarter worth $1,135,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in Ball by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 54,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,147,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,403,000 after purchasing an additional 207,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ulysses Management LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 575,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,700,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. 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.