Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 6,168 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Schroder Investment Management Group decreased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,435,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,168 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Ball were worth $133,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter worth $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 298.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BALL. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.30.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $51.45 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.18 and its 200 day moving average is $57.88.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

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.