Broderick Brian C Acquires Shares of 16,360 Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Broderick Brian C acquired a new stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemenway Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth $6,787,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 65,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 100.1% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth $825,000. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of BALL traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.50. 2,326,494 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,977,160. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $42.81 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 4.55, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.39.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued 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. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BALL shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Ball in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Truist Financial upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.23.

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.