Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 690,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,070 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $38,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth $227,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in Ball by 576.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ball by 31.5% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 3,067 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ball in the 3rd quarter worth about $156,000. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at about $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BALL opened at $50.37 on Tuesday. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $50.23 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 3.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.50.

Ball Company 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.