Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Townsend & Associates Inc

Townsend & Associates Inc lessened its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,288 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position 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 valued at $71,730,000 after purchasing an additional 874,325 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 2,527,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,406,000 after acquiring an additional 833,494 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter valued at about $17,791,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Ball by 23.8% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,469,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,149,000 after acquiring an additional 282,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Ball by 394.0% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 313,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,591,000 after acquiring an additional 249,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TheStreet raised shares of Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.23.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of Ball stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 0.6 %

Ball stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $69.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,006,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,905,241. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $42.81 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 5.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.87.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.