Ball (NYSE:BALL) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) shares reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $48.95 and last traded at $49.06, with a volume of 1058301 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BALL shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

Ball Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 3.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.82 and its 200 day moving average is $57.41.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter worth $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 298.9% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.