Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Sells 353 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,725 shares of the company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Ball comprises about 0.5% of Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 598.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ball by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

Ball stock opened at $56.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $56.77 and its 200 day moving average is $61.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $16.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.24, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.93. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $51.96 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Ball’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BALL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial cut 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.17.

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.