Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC has reduced its holdings in Ball Corporation by 47.9%, now owning 10,805 shares worth approximately $563,000.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Franklin Resources Inc. and Invesco Ltd., have increased their positions in Ball, demonstrating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analyst ratings for Ball Corporation are mixed, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.64, indicating varying expectations for the stock's performance.

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 47.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,805 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,920 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Ball were worth $563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT bought a new stake in Ball in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,196,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ball by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 113,601 shares of the company's stock worth $5,915,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 22,848 shares of the company's stock worth $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 359.3% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,184,629 shares of the company's stock worth $60,299,000 after acquiring an additional 926,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Price Performance

BALL traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $59.03. 1,593,100 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,824,443. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $56.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.01. Ball Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Ball's payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ball from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.64.

Ball Company 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.