Strs Ohio Acquires Shares of 210,000 Ball Corporation $BALL

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 210,000 shares of Ball Corporation valued at approximately $10.9 million, increasing its ownership to 0.08% as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have positive growth forecasts for Ball, with an average price target of $65.27 and ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Sell."
• Ball Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, reflecting a 1.6% yield and a payout ratio of 41.45%.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 210,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,935,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.08% of Ball at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 17,142 shares of the company's stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ball by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,256 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 925.9% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 182,289 shares of the company's stock worth $9,492,000 after buying an additional 164,521 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,209,209 shares of the company's stock worth $115,034,000 after buying an additional 61,498 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the company's stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price objective (down from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.27.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In related news, Chairman Daniel William Fisher sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.55, for a total value of $175,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 10,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $517,355.80. This represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Ball Price Performance

BALL opened at $51.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $54.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.19. Ball Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 16.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ball has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Ball's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.45%.

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.

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