Traders Buy High Volume of Ball Put Options (NYSE:BALL)

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 13,336 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,214% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,015 put options.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.99. 612,741 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,936,914. The company has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.03, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.49 and its 200 day moving average is $58.53. Ball has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Ball’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ball will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $190,105,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth about $94,861,000. London Co. of Virginia boosted its stake in Ball by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,668 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ball by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,310,000 after acquiring an additional 840,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ball by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,732,000 after buying an additional 803,728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.64.

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.