3,670 Shares in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Bought by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BALL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth about $168,372,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $109,022,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Ball by 146.6% during 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 period. Mirova US LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 2,527,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,406,000 after purchasing an additional 833,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ball by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,134,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,764,000 after purchasing an additional 381,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on BALL shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ball 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 bought at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $688,095.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

BALL traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $68.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,640,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,080,742. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.43 and a 200-day moving average of $61.16. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $21.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically 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.