Aviso Financial Inc. Acquires 21,069 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Aviso Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 712,962 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,069 shares during the period. Ball makes up 2.0% of Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $39,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $774,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ball by 400.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,048,000 after acquiring an additional 130,175 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $94,861,000. Estate Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,825,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its position in shares of Ball by 531,933.3% during the 4th quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 47,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BALL opened at $50.93 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.68 and its 200-day moving average is $58.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 4.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has an average 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.