Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Sells 213 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust trimmed its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ball were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 80.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $69.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.03. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $70.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Ball had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.81%. Ball’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Ball’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Ball from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Ball to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.58.

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.