Ball: 4Q Earnings Snapshot

BROOMFIELD, Colo. (AP) _ Ball Corp. (BLL) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $151 million.

The Broomfield, Colorado-based company said it had profit of 44 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 55 cents per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 56 cents per share.

The metal packaging company posted revenue of $2.8 billion in the period, which beat Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.68 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $454 million, or $1.29 per share. Revenue was reported as $11.64 billion.

Ball shares have risen 11 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 7 percent. The stock has climbed 36 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BLL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BLL