Forum Financial Management LP Invests $483,000 in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter valued at about $190,105,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter valued at about $94,861,000. London Co. of Virginia grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,158,668 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ball by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ball by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,732,000 after purchasing an additional 803,728 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE BALL traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.42. The stock had a trading volume of 533,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,188,197. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. Ball Co. has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $70.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.51.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Ball's payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.