Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 139,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,573 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Ball were worth $7,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE:BALL opened at $52.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.83 and a 200-day moving average of $59.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 4.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.64.

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.