Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases New Stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Ball Corporation, purchasing 23,752 shares valued at approximately $1,236,000 during the first quarter.
• In addition to Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, institutional investors such as Mirae Asset Global Investments and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services also increased their stakes in Ball, contributing to institutional ownership of 86.51% in the company.
• Ball Corporation recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.4%, highlighting the company's ongoing profitability and return to shareholders.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,752 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,236,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BALL. London Co. of Virginia increased its position in shares of Ball by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,389,000 after buying an additional 1,158,668 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 359.3% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,184,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,299,000 after buying an additional 926,728 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company's stock worth $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,883,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Ball by 3,540.4% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 487,412 shares of the company's stock worth $26,871,000 after purchasing an additional 474,023 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Price Performance

BALL stock traded down $1.96 on Tuesday, reaching $55.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,916,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,630,831. The company has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.08. The company's fifty day moving average is $56.62 and its 200 day moving average is $53.18. Ball Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.51 and a 1 year 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.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 15.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 target price (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.64.

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.