State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 1,240 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,240 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 29.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BALL shares. UBS Group upgraded Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Ball Stock Performance

BALL opened at $50.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.27 and a 200-day moving average of $60.82. The stock has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.97, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.32%.

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.