Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Short Interest Down 15.7% in October

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the October 15th total of 6,130,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Ball Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BALL stock traded down $1.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.92. 2,020,557 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,807,068. Ball has a 52-week low of $51.62 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $64.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Baird R W raised shares of Ball from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Ball by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 2.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 17.0% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Ball by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the company's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ball by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,895 shares of the company's stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.