Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Announces $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Ball Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.38%, payable on September 16th to shareholders of record on September 2nd.
• The company's payout ratio stands at 20.1%, indicating solid earnings coverage for the dividend, with expected earnings of $3.95 per share next year.
• Ball's stock has a current market cap of $16.14 billion and recently traded at $58.18, with analysts giving it a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $64.64.

Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share on Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd.

Ball has a payout ratio of 20.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ball to earn $3.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.3%.

Ball Stock Down 0.3%

BALL stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $57.06. 4,335,629 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,786,817. The firm's 50-day moving average is $56.50 and its 200-day moving average is $53.18. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Ball has a 12 month low of $43.51 and a 12 month high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.64.

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.