Share Repurchase Plan Approved by Ball (NYSE:BALL) Board of Directors

Ball (NYSE:BALL) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $55.35 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.17, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. Ball has a 52-week low of $51.96 and a 52-week high of $71.32. 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 (NYSE:BALL) last posted 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 net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BALL. UBS Group raised shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.17.

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.