Ball (NYSE:BALL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Ball (NYSE:BALL) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 5.04%. The business’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $4.94 on Friday, reaching $70.39. 2,101,426 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,831,741. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $70.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.97 and its 200-day moving average is $57.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BALL shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Ball in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ball from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America upgraded Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TheStreet raised Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.58.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.