Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Ball (NYSE:BALL)

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 10,824 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,181% compared to the average daily volume of 845 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL traded down $4.07 on Tuesday, hitting $51.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,467,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,131. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94. Ball has a one year low of $51.02 and a one year high of $71.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.21.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. Research analysts predict that Ball will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.