Short Interest in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Increases By 6.4%

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,130,000 shares, a growth of 6.4% from the September 30th total of 5,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.08.

Ball Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.38. 832,548 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,798,758. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Ball has a 12-month low of $47.56 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.03 billion, a PE ratio of 4.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.88.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Ball by 598.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 29.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 334.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. 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.