Ball (NYSE:BALL) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Ball (NYSE:BALL) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $51.12 on Thursday. Ball has a 52 week low of $50.81 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.07.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.25.

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

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.