Fred Alger Management LLC Takes $7.29 Million Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 150,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,294,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $293,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $449,000. Thomas White International Ltd. bought a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $488,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $574,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth $61,508,000. 82.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BALL. Mizuho increased their price target on Ball from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Ball from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ball from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Ball to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ball from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.31.

Ball Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $52.98 on Wednesday. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $46.00 and a 12 month high of $94.79. The company has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.96.

Ball (NYSE:BALL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.10). Ball had a net margin of 4.68% and a return on equity of 24.47%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 35.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John A. Hayes sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $5,840,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 480,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,064,236.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ball Company Profile

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Ball Corp. provides metal packaging for beverages, foods, and household products. It operates through the following business segments: Beverage Packaging North and Central America, Beverage Packaging South America, Beverage Packaging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Aerospace. The Beverage Packaging North and Central America segment includes multi-year supply contracts to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.