Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $774,000 in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 14,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BALL. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Ball by 458.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,018,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,139,000 after purchasing an additional 836,293 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 15.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,065,000 after buying an additional 588,282 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Ball by 4.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,144,000 after acquiring an additional 309,587 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in Ball by 1,875.2% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 275,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,520,000 after acquiring an additional 261,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Ball by 402.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 265,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,014,000 after acquiring an additional 212,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Ball stock opened at $54.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $53.85 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.07, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.09.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.