UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 1,557 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 0.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,940,467 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $131,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the second quarter worth $47,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Ball by 598.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $62.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $54.06 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.04. The stock has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.69, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.