Dempze Nancy E Increases Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Dempze Nancy E lifted its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,658 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the quarter. Dempze Nancy E’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Ball by 298.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $48.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.51 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.82 and a 200-day moving average of $57.47. The stock has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The company 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 quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

About Ball

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.