Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,027 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,037 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $57,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ball in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 1.6 %

Ball stock opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.47 and its 200-day moving average is $59.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.07, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Ball’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

Ball Company 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.