Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,755 shares of the company’s stock after selling 857 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Ball were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Ball by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,065,000 after buying an additional 588,282 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC raised its position in Ball by 0.5% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 2,495,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,780,000 after acquiring an additional 13,320 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ball by 7.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,414,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,951,000 after purchasing an additional 171,924 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Ball by 6.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,720,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,864,000 after purchasing an additional 99,306 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Ball by 458.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,018,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,139,000 after purchasing an additional 836,293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 0.7 %

BALL stock opened at $57.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.25 billion, a PE ratio of 4.36, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91. Ball Co. has a one year low of $54.06 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.25.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BALL. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

About Ball

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.