Mirova US LLC Sells 87,598 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Mirova US LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,431,399 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,598 shares during the quarter. Ball accounts for about 1.6% of Mirova US LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Mirova US LLC owned about 0.81% of Ball worth $134,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 0.8 %

Ball stock opened at $52.31 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap 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. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.64.

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.