Jensen Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,512,921 shares of the company’s stock after selling 524,356 shares during the period. Ball comprises approximately 1.2% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $150,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Ball by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Ball during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Ball during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 2,341.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BALL stock traded up $0.27 on Friday, reaching $64.82. 39,752 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,860,890. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $42.81 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a PE ratio of 4.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ball from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Ball from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.85.

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.