Somerville Kurt F Cuts Stock Holdings in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

Somerville Kurt F cut its position in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 13.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,002 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,667 shares during the period. Somerville Kurt F's holdings in Ball were worth $6,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ball by 12.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,718 shares of the company's stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 4,289 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ball by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 122,483 shares of the company's stock worth $6,378,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 55,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 6,106 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC bought a new position in Ball in the first quarter worth approximately $307,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ball by 19.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BALL traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $59.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,117,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,830,411. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.98. Ball Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.51 and a 1-year high of $68.12. The stock has a market cap of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 35.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.08.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price target (down from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ball from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four 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, Ball has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.64.

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.