Ball (NYSE:BALL) Upgraded at Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball (NYSE:BALL) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $67.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.75.

Ball Stock Performance

BALL opened at $57.98 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.45. The firm has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 4.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.91. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $54.06 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $504,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,195,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Ball by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 48,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Ball by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after purchasing an additional 309,587 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,247,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.