Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Position Increased by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,881 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,818 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 29.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on BALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.25.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $50.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.01, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.60 and a 200-day moving average of $59.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.