Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Buys 1,369 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,920 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of Ball by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 69,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,200,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ball during the second quarter worth $396,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Ball by 4.3% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 487,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,255,000 after buying an additional 20,061 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Ball by 36.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the period. Finally, Delaney Dennis R boosted its position in Ball by 109.7% during the second quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 19,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 10,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Down 1.2 %

BALL opened at $66.31 on Friday. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a PE ratio of 4.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.70 and its 200 day moving average is $65.14.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 6.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ball from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Ball Profile

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.