Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,782 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ball were worth $4,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 1.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,853,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,408,000 after buying an additional 72,585 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ball by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,138,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,248,000 after purchasing an additional 115,133 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,126,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,662,000 after purchasing an additional 95,415 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 9.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,764,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,620,000 after purchasing an additional 234,363 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 1.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,577,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,284,000 after buying an additional 37,492 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $69.89 on Thursday. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.31.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.23.

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.