California State Teachers Retirement System Has $24.45 Million Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 443,568 shares of the company's stock after selling 91,779 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.16% of Ball worth $24,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE BALL traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.58. 5,447,727 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,202,466. The company's 50-day moving average is $50.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.40. Ball Co. has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $70.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Ball's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Ball's payout ratio is 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ball has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.00.

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.