Ball (NYSE:BALL) Shares Down 5.7% – Here’s Why

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) shares traded down 5.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $57.46 and last traded at $57.61. 1,033,314 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,800,994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.75.

Ball Trading Down 6.0 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 6.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ball by 306.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,906,000 after buying an additional 23,941 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its position in Ball by 7.3% during the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 153,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,211,000 after buying an additional 10,427 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ball by 400.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after buying an additional 130,175 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ball by 9.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,293,000 after buying an additional 47,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ball by 12.3% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.