Forum Financial Management LP Acquires New Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $190,105,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,861,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Ball by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ball by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company's stock worth $427,732,000 after purchasing an additional 803,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp raised its stake in shares of Ball by 1,335.8% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company's stock worth $34,137,000 after purchasing an additional 576,078 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.57. 2,092,877 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,127,853. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.32. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $43.51 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.99, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Ball from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.80.

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.