IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd cut its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,444 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,135 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 298.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $51.34 on Thursday. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BALL. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Truist Financial dropped 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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, Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.30.

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.