KBC Group NV Purchases 212,430 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 402.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 265,261 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 212,430 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.09% of Ball worth $18,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC grew its position in Ball by 10.0% in the third quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 8,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 11,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,512 shares in the last quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 275,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after purchasing an additional 87,120 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Ball by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 692,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,020,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Ball by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $60.92 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $51.62 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.64. The company has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.75.

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.