Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,570,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the January 15th total of 7,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth $1,135,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in Ball by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 54,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Ball by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,147,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,403,000 after purchasing an additional 207,244 shares during the period. Ulysses Management LLC boosted its position in Ball by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 575,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,700,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $292,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $49.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a PE ratio of 3.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $54.19 and its 200-day moving average is $60.23.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BALL. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.25.

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.