Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 186,899 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ball were worth $4,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ball in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BALL. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Ball Trading Up 1.6 %

Ball stock opened at $56.23 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $51.96 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.24, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.33.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.03%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically 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.