RD Lewis Holdings Inc. Makes New $277,000 Investment in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 298.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $52.31 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.71. The company has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.64.

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.