Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.78.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 764.9% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 813 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BALL opened at $51.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.08, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.76. Ball has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $70.97.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ball will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Ball's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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