Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target Cut to $63.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $70.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.87% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial dropped 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $51.28 on Wednesday. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $50.76 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in Ball by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ball by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during 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.