Impax Asset Management Group plc Raises Holdings in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 480,660 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,244 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.17% of Ball worth $25,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 764.9% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 813 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter valued at about $83,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE:BALL traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.61. The stock had a trading volume of 876,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,221,522. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.51 and a 52 week high of $68.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.08.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BALL. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.40.

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.