Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 13,262 Shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 53.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,289 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,262 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Ball were worth $1,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 764.9% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 813 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ball by 51.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Ball Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,376,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,708,099. The company's 50 day moving average is $51.81 and its 200-day moving average is $52.79. Ball Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.51 and a 12-month high of $68.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.08.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Ball's payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

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.