Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 47.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,832 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,999 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ball were worth $3,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Ball by 146.6% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,470,641 shares of the company's stock worth $71,730,000 after purchasing an additional 874,325 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Ball in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,791,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Ball by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,469,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,149,000 after buying an additional 282,114 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 394.0% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 313,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,591,000 after buying an additional 249,800 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,764,571 shares of the company's stock worth $137,620,000 after buying an additional 234,363 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on BALL shares. Bank of America raised Ball from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. TheStreet raised shares of Ball from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ball news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,809,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,985. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87. Ball Co. has a one year low of $42.81 and a one year high of $71.32. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $66.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.46.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company's revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.02%.

Ball declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Ball

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.