Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target Lowered to $66.00 at Citigroup

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $73.00 to $66.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an equal weight rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.23.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $59.26 on Monday. Ball has a twelve month low of $42.81 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The firm has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.46, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.98 and a 200 day moving average of $63.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ball will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. 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.