Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Purchased by Lyell Wealth Management LP

Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 55,624 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Ball were worth $3,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ball by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 45,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Ball by 338.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ball by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp boosted its holdings in Ball by 1,335.8% in the 4th 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $49.90 on Wednesday. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.00 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.23. The company has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.94, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.25.

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.