Entropy Technologies LP Acquires New Holdings in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP recently acquired 14,693 shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE: BALL), valued at approximately $765,000, marking a significant investment in the company.
• Ball's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.90, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.8%.
• The company announced a $0.20 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 1.5%, with the dividend payment set for September 16th.

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BALL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ball by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Ball by 5.0% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 122,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,378,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ball by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 55,997 shares of the company's stock worth $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 6,106 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the first quarter valued at about $307,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.83. 1,398,771 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,634,101. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Ball Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.51 and a 12-month high of $68.12. The company has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.08.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.81% and a net margin of 4.49%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Ball's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Ball's dividend payout ratio is 41.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.27.

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.