Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Short Interest Up 68.1% in May

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,490,000 shares, a growth of 68.1% from the May 15th total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Ball in the 1st quarter worth about $10,935,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 17,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $893,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ball by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 925.9% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 182,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,492,000 after buying an additional 164,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,209,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,034,000 after buying an additional 61,498 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 683,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,208,848. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.41, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.81. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Ball's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.00.

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.