Apollon Wealth Management LLC Trims Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,028 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Ball in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Ball by 598.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 334.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Down 1.6 %

BALL stock opened at $60.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.90. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $51.62 and a 52 week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BALL shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Baird R W raised shares of Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.75.

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.