Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Position Cut by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust trimmed its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ball were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Ball by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,252,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,020,000 after purchasing an additional 143,005 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Ball by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,469,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,149,000 after purchasing an additional 282,114 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ball by 82.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 309,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,430,000 after purchasing an additional 140,440 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Ball by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 389,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,384,000 after purchasing an additional 16,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 85,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,245,000 after purchasing an additional 17,215 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $69.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $42.81 and a 1 year high of $70.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.89.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 5.04%. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 35.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ball from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ball in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.58.

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.