LPL Financial LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 263,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,987 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $14,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $94,861,000. First Merchants Corp raised its stake in Ball by 1,335.8% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,137,000 after purchasing an additional 576,078 shares during the period. LBP AM SA boosted its holdings in Ball by 124.4% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 587,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,367,000 after purchasing an additional 325,497 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ball by 4.7% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 3,599.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 317,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,494,000 after buying an additional 308,744 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $52.38 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a PE ratio of 4.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.69.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.