Ball (NYSE:BALL) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $53.96 and last traded at $53.97, with a volume of 1214855 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BALL shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Ball Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 4.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Institutional Trading of Ball

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ball in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Ball by 598.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 334.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.