Waverly Advisors LLC Makes New $292,000 Investment in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Ball in the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ball by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Ball Stock Down 1.0%

BALL traded down $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,469,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,192,582. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50 day moving average is $50.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.56. Ball Co. has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $70.07.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Ball's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Ball's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Ball declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball 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.