Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 1,708 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,692 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ball were worth $5,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ball by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,065,000 after buying an additional 588,282 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ball by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,253,000 after buying an additional 36,809 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ball in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $94,861,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank raised its holdings in Ball by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,388,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,339,000 after buying an additional 162,105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $51.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.64 and a 200-day moving average of $58.85.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.64.

Ball Company 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.