Swedbank AB Boosts Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Swedbank AB raised its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 197,188 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,907 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Ball were worth $10,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BALL opened at $55.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a PE ratio of 4.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $51.96 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.30.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.17.

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.