Mizuho raises Ball’s (NYSE:BALL) price target to $69.00

Ball (NYSE:BALL – Free Report) Mizuho raised its price target from $63.00 to $69.00 in a research report sent to investors Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BALL. Citigroup began covering Ball in a report on Wednesday, March 27. They set a neutral rating and a $70.00 price target for the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22. Barclays reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $71.00 target price (previously $66.00) for shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, April 4. UBS Group initiated coverage of Ball in a research note on Tuesday, January 16. They issued a sell rating and a $55.00 target price for the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Ball from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, March 8. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average Hold rating and a consensus target price of $69.15.

Read our latest report on BALL

Ball stock performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $67.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.12, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty-day simple moving average is $65.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.55. Ball has a 52-week low of $42.81 and a 52-week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL – Get Free Report) posted its latest earnings results on Friday, April 26. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst expectations of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue fell 17.6% year over year. During the same period last year, the company posted earnings per share of $0.69. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ball will post earnings per share of 3.11 for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that on Wednesday, April 24, the Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes the stock is undervalued.

Ball announces dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17. Shareholders of note on Monday, June 3 will receive a dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31. This represents a dividend of $0.80 annually and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio currently stands at 6.02%.

Insiders place their bets

In other Ball news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total value of $249,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s shares.

Hedge funds are weighing in on the ball

Several major investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jag Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 25,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. The State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Ball by 0.5% during the first quarter. The State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Ball by 0.7% during the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 26,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Ball by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Ball by 0.9% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 22,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s shares.

Ball company profile

(Get a free report)

Ball Corporation provides aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care and household products industries in the United States, Brazil and internationally. The company produces and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks and other beverages.

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