Cresset Asset Management LLC Buys New Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 508,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,024,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Ball at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smith Moore & CO. boosted its stake in Ball by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 8,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department boosted its stake in Ball by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 50,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Ball during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,475,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Ball by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 74,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Ball by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 662,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,616,000 after purchasing an additional 88,853 shares during the last quarter. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of Ball stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.40. The stock had a trading volume of 361,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,743,294. The firm has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.80. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $46.00 and a 12 month high of $62.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.03 and its 200 day moving average is $54.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. Ball had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ball from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ball from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. Bank of America downgraded Ball from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Ball from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ball news, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total transaction of $200,206.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,861 shares in the company, valued at $464,405.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ball news, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total transaction of $200,206.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,861 shares in the company, valued at $464,405.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total transaction of $26,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,252.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ball

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.