Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Ball Stock Up 1.0 %

BALL opened at $57.68 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.69. Ball has a 12 month low of $54.06 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.91. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Ball during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 598.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ball

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.