Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Buys Shares of 4,011 Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ball by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 436.8% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 14,655 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ball by 37.7% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Ball by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 32,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 7,436 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BALL stock traded up $0.58 on Thursday, reaching $62.64. 272,946 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,943,412. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.71.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.08.

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.