River Global Investors LLP Trims Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

River Global Investors LLP decreased its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,092 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,571 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Ball were worth $667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BALL. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ball in the fourth quarter valued at about $774,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 400.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after acquiring an additional 130,175 shares during the last quarter. Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,825,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 275,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after purchasing an additional 87,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its position in Ball by 531,933.3% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 47,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $54.35 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a PE ratio of 4.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.23.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.