Ball (NYSE:BALL) Upgraded by Truist Financial to Buy

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Ball (NYSE:BALL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Truist Financial currently has $76.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $67.00.

BALL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America raised Ball from an underperform rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Ball in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a neutral rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.54.

Ball Price Performance

BALL opened at $61.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.62, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.90. Ball has a 1 year low of $42.81 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.24.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter worth $57,000. 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.