JB Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

JB Capital LLC raised its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,862 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,462 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $3,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 15.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Ball by 402.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 265,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,014,000 after buying an additional 212,430 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ball by 400.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after acquiring an additional 130,175 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 167.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 175,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,440,000 after acquiring an additional 110,053 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $55.64 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $56.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.25. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $51.96 and a 1 year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reduced their target price 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.