Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Grows Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,406 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 667 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Ball were worth $408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hemenway Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 284,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,669,000 after purchasing an additional 9,138 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Ball in the fourth quarter worth about $460,000. Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 63.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 523,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,875,000 after buying an additional 203,298 shares in the last quarter. Dempze Nancy E grew its stake in shares of Ball by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 34,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,388,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.30.

Ball Stock Down 3.9 %

NYSE BALL opened at $48.54 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.34. Ball Co. has a one year low of $46.26 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $13.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.