Ball (NYSE:BALL) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $48.95 and last traded at $49.18, with a volume of 357027 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.25.

Ball Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.88 and its 200 day moving average is $60.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 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 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Ball

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.