Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 687 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $5,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 40.0% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 0.4 %

Ball stock opened at $60.65 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $42.81 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.56, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insider Activity at Ball

In other Ball news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.85.

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.