UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Increases Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 31.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,976 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 298.9% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $51.45 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $52.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.88. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

Ball Company 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.