Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 752 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 4.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $202,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Ball by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ball by 3.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $64.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.17. The company has a market cap of $19.87 billion, a PE ratio of 4.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.88. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.49 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. Baird R W raised shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.08.

Ball Company 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.