Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Receives $57.79 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.29.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ball from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Ball from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ball news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $26,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,252.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total transaction of $26,425.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,252.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total transaction of $200,206.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,861 shares in the company, valued at $464,405.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Ball during the second quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ball during the second quarter valued at approximately $773,000. Lavaca Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ball during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,911,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ball by 6.4% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 29,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Ball by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 78,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,548,000 after purchasing an additional 5,797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $51.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Ball has a one year low of $46.00 and a one year high of $62.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.24 and a 200-day moving average of $54.62.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Ball had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 21.43%. Ball’s revenue was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ball will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.75%.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corp. provides metal packaging for beverages, foods, and household products. It operates through the following business segments: Beverage Packaging North and Central America, Beverage Packaging South America, Beverage Packaging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Aerospace. The Beverage Packaging North and Central America segment includes multi-year supply contracts to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.