Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Puzo Michael J

Puzo Michael J lessened its stake in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 38.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,496 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,257 shares during the quarter. Puzo Michael J's holdings in Ball were worth $2,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth approximately $190,105,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ball in the fourth quarter worth $94,861,000. London Co. of Virginia lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ball by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company's stock worth $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ball by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company's stock worth $427,732,000 after purchasing an additional 803,728 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BALL. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.86. 3,376,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,227,308. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $51.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.79. Ball Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.51 and a 1 year high of $68.12. The company has a market capitalization of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.08. 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 (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.91 billion. Ball had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.