Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,629 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Ball were worth $3,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 298.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 1.7 %

BALL stock opened at $50.69 on Monday. Ball Co. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 4.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.47 and a 200-day moving average of $58.35.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.30.

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.