Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $594,000 Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,776 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,790 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 298.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $50.69 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.00, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.40.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.30.

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.