IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 6,987 Shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,946 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,987 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Ball were worth $3,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 764.9% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 813 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ball in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 51.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball in the first quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:BALL traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, hitting $58.79. 2,250,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,720,422. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.08. The company's 50-day moving average price is $54.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.66. Ball Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.51 and a 52 week high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.91 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 4.18%. Ball's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BALL. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Loop Capital lowered 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.40.

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.