Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,809 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 23,311 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Ball were worth $6,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 3,599.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 317,321 shares of the company's stock worth $17,494,000 after purchasing an additional 308,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp increased its stake in shares of Ball by 1,335.8% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company's stock worth $34,137,000 after buying an additional 576,078 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BALL. 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 research report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Ball Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,636,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,209,563. The company has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 4.29, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $51.23 and its 200 day moving average is $53.00. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $43.51 and a 12 month high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Ball's payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

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.