Virtu Financial LLC Invests $934,000 in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has acquired a new position in Ball Corporation, purchasing 17,936 shares valued at approximately $934,000 in the 1st quarter.
• Ball Corporation has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, set to be distributed on September 16th to shareholders of record on September 2nd.
• Analysts have given Ball Corporation an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $65.27, indicating positive sentiment towards the stock's performance.

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $934,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ball from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price objective (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.27.

Ball Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BALL traded up $0.14 on Friday, reaching $53.78. The stock had a trading volume of 777,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,629,794. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.08. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.14. Ball Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.51 and a 12-month high of $68.12.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.45%.

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.