Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target Cut to $55.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) had its price target lowered by UBS Group from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BALL. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho raised Ball from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.25.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL traded up $0.57 on Thursday, reaching $49.90. 2,816,069 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,689,496. Ball has a 52-week low of $49.00 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a PE ratio of 3.94, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $54.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The business's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball's payout ratio is 6.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ball in the third quarter worth $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ball by 328.4% in the fourth 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. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

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.