Ball (NYSE:BALL) PT Raised to $72.00

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Barclays from $71.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.53% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ball from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.23.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $68.88. 482,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,899,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $21.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.97. Ball has a twelve month low of $42.81 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ball

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of Ball stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BALL. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Ball by 80.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ball in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 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.