Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,489 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,749 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Ball were worth $3,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 11.8% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Ball by 5.4% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,490,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Ball by 6.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 138,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,914,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 89.0% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $68.90 on Tuesday. Ball Co. has a one year low of $42.81 and a one year high of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.18, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. TheStreet upgraded Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ball from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.23.

Insider Activity at Ball

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.