Ball Corporation $BALL Stock: Palisade Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,170 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,456 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $6,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ball during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,310,991,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Ball during the 2nd quarter worth $163,768,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Ball in the second quarter worth $160,506,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Ball in the second quarter worth $143,165,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Ball in the second quarter worth $96,380,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Ball News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ball this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $77 from $75 and maintained a Buy rating; RBC also lifted its target to $77, from $73, and kept its Outperform rating. Both targets imply about 17% upside from the cited $65.88 share price. Citigroup price-target report RBC analyst recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated its Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in Ball’s prospects. Truist rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS raised its target to $68 from $63 but kept a Neutral rating, suggesting a more modest view of potential gains. UBS price-target report
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho set a new $75 price target. Ball’s reported consensus target is $71.46, reflecting generally positive expectations but some variation among analysts. Mizuho price-target report Consensus price-target report
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut Ball’s rating to Neutral, a cautious counterpoint to the recent target increases. JPMorgan rating report

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $65.88 on Friday. Ball Corporation has a 12-month low of $46.06 and a 12-month high of $69.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 3.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Corporation will post 4.00 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ball from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ball from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ball news, SVP Mandy Glew sold 5,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $358,938.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,934.20. The trade was a 43.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About Ball

Ball Corporation is a global supplier of aluminum packaging, best known for making beverage cans and ends for beverage companies. Its products are used for a range of drinks, including beer, soft drinks, energy drinks and other beverages. The company also offers aluminum cups and other specialty packaging products.

Ball serves customers across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Its packaging operations support beverage brands and producers with manufacturing capabilities in multiple regions.

Founded in 1880 as a glass-jar business, Ball grew into a major packaging company and later operated an aerospace business.