3,964 Shares in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Acquired by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 4.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,065,000 after acquiring an additional 588,282 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,253,000 after purchasing an additional 36,809 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth $94,861,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Ball by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,388,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,339,000 after purchasing an additional 162,105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BALL. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.30.

Ball Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE BALL opened at $50.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.01, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $71.32.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.