Ball Corporation Attains 52-Week High on Market Expansion

Shares of Ball Corporation BLL reached a new 52-week high of $66.10 on Sep 3 and eventually closed a bit lower at $66.06. The stock price appreciation came on the back of strong second-quarter results, expected benefits from product launches and expansion in emerging markets.

Ball Corporation has delivered solid one-year return of about 51% and year-to-date return of around 28.7%, outperforming the S&P 500. Average volume of shares traded over the last three months is approximately 781K.

This Broomfield, CO-based company is the largest manufacturer of beverage cans in North America with a market cap of $9.2 billion and long-term estimated earnings per share growth rate of 12.9%. The company has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the four trailing quarters with an average positive surprise of 13.81%.  

Strengths of Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation reported a 33% year-over-year increase in second-quarter 2014 adjusted earnings aided by brilliant result in its global beverage operations and solid program execution in the aerospace business. Total revenue also rose 4% to $2.29 billion from $2.2 billion in the year-ago quarter on improving demand for beverage cans.

Last month, Ball Corporation announced the successful launch of WorldView-3, the first multi-payload, super-spectral, high-resolution commercial satellite. Ball Corporation has begun the integration phase for Worldview-3 in Apr 2013. The company was responsible for development, integration and testing of the satellite.

On Jul 10, Ball Corporation declared the arrival of The Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) instrument. CERES, built for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), measures the reflected sunlight and thermal radiation emitted by the Earth. Integration of the JPSS-1 satellite will begin later this year. The company will design and build the JPSS-1 satellite bus, the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), integrate all instruments and perform satellite-level testing and launch support.

Further, Ball Aerospace began work on a fixed-price contract for the Stalker long-range, electro-optical laser sensor system (SLREOSS) under a contract to the NATO Seasparrow Project Office, during the reported quarter.

Additionally, Ball Corporation announced its intention to expand in Southeast Asia by building a one-line beverage can manufacturing plant in Myanmar on May 19. The Myanmar plant, which is expected to come online in mid-2015, will help the company to capitalize on the growing demand for beverage containers. Ball Corporation has also started construction at existing Oss, Netherlands, facility to increase capacity through the addition of a new line, which will start up in the second quarter of 2015.

For the full-year 2014, Ball Corporation expects free cash flow to exceed $550 million. The company has maintained its long-term earnings per share growth goal of 10%–15%.

Ball Corporation currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other Stocks to Consider

Other stocks worth considering in the same sector include Sealed Air Corporation SEE, Graphic Packaging Holding Company GPK and Berry Plastics Group, Inc. BERY. While Sealed Air Corporation holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Graphic Packaging and Berry Plastics carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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