Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 45,312 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 633,155 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,312 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.20% of Ball worth $36,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Ball by 80.4% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ball from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ball Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE BALL traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.22. 3,401,114 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,910,031. The stock has a market cap of $21.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Ball Co. has a one year low of $42.81 and a one year high of $71.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.55.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.02%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is 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.