Moors & Cabot Inc. Acquires 192 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,442 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $302,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 17.0% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ball by 1.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ball by 7.6% during the third quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $61.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.34. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $53.57 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a PE ratio of 4.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BALL. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.75.

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.