Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,130,000 shares, a decline of 15.3% from the August 15th total of 7,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Ball in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 2,341.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 334.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of BALL traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $67.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,145,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,846,468. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $20.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.88. Ball has a 52-week low of $42.81 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.05.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ball will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ball from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ball from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.83.

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.