Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 43,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,401,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Ball by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,065,000 after acquiring an additional 588,282 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,253,000 after acquiring an additional 36,809 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Ball by 14.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 707,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,030,000 after purchasing an additional 87,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in Ball by 1,335.8% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,137,000 after purchasing an additional 576,078 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Down 0.9 %

Ball stock opened at $51.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 4.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.57 and a 200-day moving average of $58.62.

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

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.64.

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.