UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,147,711 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 207,244 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.72% of Ball worth $118,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BALL. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Ball by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 25,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 11,282 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company's stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Ball by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 21,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 326.1% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 14,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 11,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 5,088 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.00.

Ball Stock Up 0.6%

BALL traded up $0.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.17. 564,157 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,721,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $50.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.55. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $70.07. The stock has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Ball's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.62%.

Ball Company Profile

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.