Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 8.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,160 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Ball by 598.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth $66,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ball by 334.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $57.76 on Wednesday. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $54.06 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a PE ratio of 4.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.