Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 115,098 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 96.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,466 shares of the company's stock after selling 115,098 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ball were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Ball by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BALL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.00.

Ball Stock Up 0.4%

BALL stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 323,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,198,175. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.24, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $50.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.28. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $70.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Ball's payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

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.