Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Ball (NYSE:BALL) Stock Price

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $70.00 to $63.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.18% from the company’s previous close.

BALL has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.58.

Ball Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ball stock opened at $51.56 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94. Ball has a twelve month low of $50.81 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Ball in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Ball by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.