California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 10,240 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 526,962 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,240 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Ball worth $35,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 2,341.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho upped their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Ball from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $63.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,747,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,746. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.93. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.85.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.