Intech Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 17,768 Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 17,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $980,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Ball by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Ball during the third quarter valued at $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

Ball Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.00, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

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

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.