Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Stock Holdings Decreased by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lessened its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,044 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Ball were worth $282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ball by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 26,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ball by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.30.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $52.11 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. 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 $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 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 company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Ball

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.