Ball (NYSE:BALL) Hits New 1-Year Low After Earnings Miss

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL – Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $61.35 and last traded at $61.98, with a volume of 73897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.81.

The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 30.66% and a net margin of 4.96%.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 31st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Atlantic Securities downgraded Ball from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Ball from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $81.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on Ball to $91.00 in a research report on Friday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ball from $74.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.71.

Ball Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.27.

About Ball

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Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Beverage Packaging, North and Central America; Beverage Packaging, Europe, Middle East and Africa; Beverage Packaging, South America; and Aerospace.