Ball (NYSE:BALL) Upgraded by UBS Group to Neutral Rating

Ball (NYSE:BALL) was upgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $58.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.58% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ball from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

Ball Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BALL stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 201,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,864,658. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.87. 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 12-month low of $52.50 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.80 billion, a PE ratio of 3.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.93.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ball will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Ball by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 27.2% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the second quarter valued at $384,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball during the second quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 123.6% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.