B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires New Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $845,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its position in Ball by 114.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,057,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,347,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162,167 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 458.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,018,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,139,000 after purchasing an additional 836,293 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 1,875.2% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 275,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,520,000 after purchasing an additional 261,303 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,621,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,326,000 after purchasing an additional 241,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Ball by 402.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 265,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,014,000 after purchasing an additional 212,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of BALL stock opened at $61.86 on Friday. Ball Co. has a one year low of $53.57 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.34. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Ball Profile

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.