Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Palisade Asset Management LLC

Palisade Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 893 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $11,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Ball during the second quarter worth about $47,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Ball by 598.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ball by 334.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of BALL stock opened at $61.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.37. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $53.57 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.67, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.75.

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.