Ball (NYSE:BALL) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) shares reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $52.97 and last traded at $53.49, with a volume of 1947363 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ball from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued 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 $69.00.

Ball Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $58.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 400.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,048,000 after buying an additional 130,175 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $774,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 9.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,293,000 after acquiring an additional 47,539 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 12.3% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ball by 7.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,414,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,951,000 after purchasing an additional 171,924 shares in the last quarter. 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.