Naviter Wealth LLC Acquires New Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter worth $774,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ball by 400.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after buying an additional 130,175 shares during the period. Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,825,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 275,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after acquiring an additional 87,120 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its holdings in Ball by 531,933.3% in the 4th quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 47,874 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BALL. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.64.

Ball Stock Up 4.2 %

NYSE BALL opened at $54.35 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.29, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.20.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued 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 1.47%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.