Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,030 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,758 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,030 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ball were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BALL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.30.

Ball Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:BALL opened at $50.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $48.95 and a 1-year high of $71.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.47 and a 200 day moving average of $58.35. The firm has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 4.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.