Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by 1832 Asset Management L.P.

1832 Asset Management L.P. reduced its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 43.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 937,991 shares of the company’s stock after selling 714,408 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Ball were worth $63,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 2,341.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE BALL traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.25. 1,155,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,673,879. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.76, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.85. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $42.81 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The business’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.08.

Ball 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.