Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,919 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,345 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ball by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 26,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BALL shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.40.

Ball Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BALL stock opened at $52.18 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.12, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $50.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.18. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $70.97.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.62%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.