UBS Group Upgrades Ball (NYSE:BALL) to Neutral

Ball (NYSE:BALL) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $58.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.58% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BALL. Truist Financial decreased 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. Mizuho raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ball from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.93. 201,468 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.87. The company has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.93. Ball has a 1 year low of $52.50 and a 1 year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. Ball’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Ball by 598.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ball in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ball by 334.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.