Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,540,000 shares, a decline of 10.8% from the January 15th total of 10,690,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.
Ball Stock Performance
BALL traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $61.78. The company had a trading volume of 322,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,432. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.87. Ball has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $62.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.54.
Ball (NYSE:BALL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ball had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.81%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ball will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ball Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.71%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
BALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.00.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Ball news, COO Ronald J. Lewis purchased 4,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.91 per share, with a total value of $249,980.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,606,356.27. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at $328,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 26,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 11,499 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter worth $1,089,000. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Ball by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 79,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,560,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the company’s stock.
About Ball
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.