Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Purchased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,397 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,670 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Ball were worth $9,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ball by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BALL opened at $52.34 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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.13, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.65.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BALL. UBS Group dropped their target price on 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 restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

About Ball

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.