Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,115,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85,305 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.38% of Ball worth $481,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at $66,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Ball by 598.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

BALL opened at $57.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.45. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $54.06 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The firm has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

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.