EdgeRock Capital LLC Has $468,000 Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

EdgeRock Capital LLC lessened its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Ball by 146.6% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,470,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,730,000 after buying an additional 874,325 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 2,527,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,406,000 after buying an additional 833,494 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $17,791,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 23.8% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,469,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,149,000 after acquiring an additional 282,114 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Ball by 394.0% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 313,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,591,000 after purchasing an additional 249,800 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Trading Up 0.4 %

BALL stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,735,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,382. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.14. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $42.81 and a 1-year high of $71.32. The firm has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of Ball stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ball in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ball in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.23.

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.