Comerica Bank Sells 5,140 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Comerica Bank reduced its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,948 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,140 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Ball were worth $3,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 364,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,967 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 298.9% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,705 shares of the company's stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 2,866 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at $285,000. Finally, Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Ball stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.18. 1,711,318 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,126,515. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 4.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $43.51 and a 1-year high of $70.97.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Ball's revenue was up 7.8% 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 announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Ball's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BALL. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.40.

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.