UBS Group Cuts Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target to $54.00

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.52% from the company’s current price.

BALL has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.20.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,309,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,047,179. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball has a one year low of $46.17 and a one year high of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.34.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth about $909,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ball by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 3,974 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth about $2,313,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ball by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 93,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,339,000 after acquiring an additional 6,963 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.