Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,479,000. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 21,062,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,211,527,000 after purchasing an additional 998,527 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Ball by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,252,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,020,000 after buying an additional 143,005 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,973,000. Finally, Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 1,128,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,438,000 after buying an additional 78,402 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $60.82 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.41. The stock has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.58, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.85. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Ball in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.23.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

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.