Ball (NYSE:BALL) Hits New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) reached a new 52-week high on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $69.77 and last traded at $69.60, with a volume of 445536 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.45.

The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.81%. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Ball declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Ball to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ball in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ball from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America raised Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $61.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 80.4% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Up 6.1 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.78. The company has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

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.