Ball (NYSE:BALL) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $48.95 and last traded at $49.06, with a volume of 1058301 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BALL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.30.

Ball Stock Down 3.9 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.60. The company has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS 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 last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth $774,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ball in the fourth quarter worth about $94,861,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its position in Ball by 531,933.3% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 47,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ball by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,253,000 after acquiring an additional 36,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 37,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,053,000 after purchasing an additional 18,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.