Lyell Wealth Management LP Increases Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,535 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,745 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $246,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd purchased a new position in Ball in the second quarter worth $1,347,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Ball by 0.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 2nd quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 2nd quarter worth $1,952,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $66.00 on Friday. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.97, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.04.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ball from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Baird R W raised shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.83.

About Ball

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.