Meridian Wealth Management LLC Invests $416,000 in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BALL. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Ball by 114.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,057,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,162,167 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Ball by 458.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,018,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,139,000 after acquiring an additional 836,293 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its stake in Ball by 1,875.2% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 275,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,520,000 after acquiring an additional 261,303 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 17.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,621,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,326,000 after acquiring an additional 241,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ball by 402.1% during 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 during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $61.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.30. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $53.57 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.67, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ball currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.75.

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.