Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp has significantly reduced its stake in Ball Corporation by 67.9%, selling 94,734 shares and now holding 44,691 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million.
• Ball recently reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.90, beating estimates, and showed a 12.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing a 1.5% yield, to be paid on September 16th, with a payout ratio of 41.45%.

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 67.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,691 shares of the company's stock after selling 94,734 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Ball were worth $2,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ball by 44.2% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,002,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453,630 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia lifted its position in shares of Ball by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,668 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Ball by 359.3% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,184,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,299,000 after acquiring an additional 926,728 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,883,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 3,540.4% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 487,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,871,000 after acquiring an additional 474,023 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Trading Up 0.4%

Ball stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.83. 1,398,771 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,517,731. Ball Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $68.12. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $56.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.13.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.81% and a net margin of 4.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ball from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.27.

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.