Ball Corporation $BALL Shares Sold by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lessened its position in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 51,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,628 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,521,000 after acquiring an additional 602,137 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,828,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,003,000 after acquiring an additional 455,089 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,816,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,402,000 after acquiring an additional 79,700 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,406,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,318,000 after acquiring an additional 351,060 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Ball by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,141,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,969,000 after buying an additional 29,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ball

In related news, SVP Fauze Villatoro purchased 1,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.51 per share, for a total transaction of $100,055.01. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president directly owned 13,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,818.78. This trade represents a 12.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen Pitre sold 10,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $710,275.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,450,118.36. This trade represents a 22.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $55.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.12. Ball Corporation has a twelve month low of $44.83 and a twelve month high of $68.29.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Ball had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 18.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ball Corporation will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BALL shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Ball and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.54.

About Ball

Ball Corporation is a leading provider of sustainable aluminum packaging solutions and advanced aerospace technologies. Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, the company serves customers in the beverage, food and aerosol markets through a global network of manufacturing facilities. With an emphasis on sustainability and innovation, Ball designs and produces metal cans, bottles and ends that support recycling and reduce environmental impact.

The company’s packaging segment specializes in beverage cans for soft drinks, beer and energy drinks, as well as metal packaging for food and personal care applications.