Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners cut its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,091,044 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500,995 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Ball were worth $280,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ball by 4.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 15.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,065,000 after buying an additional 588,282 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ball by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,253,000 after buying an additional 36,809 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ball in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,861,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank boosted its holdings in Ball by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,388,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,339,000 after purchasing an additional 162,105 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $51.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.62. The stock has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

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 business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.64.

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.