Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Ball (NYSE:BALL)

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 28,228 put options on the company. This is an increase of 2,370% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,143 put options.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of Ball stock opened at $46.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.84 and its 200 day moving average is $56.75. Ball has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BALL. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ball by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,732,000 after acquiring an additional 803,728 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Ball by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $190,105,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ball by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,055,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,447,000 after purchasing an additional 367,798 shares during the period. Finally, London Co. of Virginia boosted its stake in Ball by 61.1% in the 4th quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.