Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $1.34 Million in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BALL. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

Ball Stock Up 1.8 %

BALL opened at $51.35 on Monday. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.74 and a 200-day moving average of $59.97.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Ball

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.