Signaturefd LLC Cuts Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Signaturefd LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 558 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $94,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Down 1.7 %

Ball stock opened at $50.69 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.35. The company has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

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

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BALL. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lowered 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.