Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Shares Acquired by Townsquare Capital LLC

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in Ball Corporation by 417.3% in the first quarter, owning 52,194 shares worth approximately $2.72 million by the end of the period.
• Several analyst firms have raised their price targets for Ball Corporation, with Mizuho setting it at $68.00 and Royal Bank of Canada at $70.00, reflecting a positive sentiment in the market.
• Ball Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.5%, contributing to its overall financial strategy.

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 417.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,194 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,105 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Ball were worth $2,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,055,441 shares of the company's stock worth $168,447,000 after buying an additional 367,798 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,668 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,026,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,847,000 after purchasing an additional 396,633 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,147,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,403,000 after purchasing an additional 207,244 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 3.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,952,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,666,000 after purchasing an additional 61,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Trading Up 0.2%

Ball stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.75. 702,785 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,629,385. Ball Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $68.12. The company has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $56.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.14.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 (DPR) is 41.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BALL shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Ball from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.