Meeder Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 187,272 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,582 shares during the period. Ball accounts for approximately 0.7% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $10,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 757,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,742,000 after buying an additional 5,374 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Ball in the fourth quarter worth approximately $481,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 16,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ball by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 287,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,832,000 after purchasing an additional 19,805 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in Ball by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 59,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,285,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $51.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 4.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.88. Ball Co. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BALL. Mizuho upgraded 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. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

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.