Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Stock Position Lowered by Trillium Asset Management LLC

Trillium Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 385,031 shares of the company’s stock after selling 91,766 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Ball worth $21,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ball by 4.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,144,000 after purchasing an additional 309,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 15.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,065,000 after purchasing an additional 588,282 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ball by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,253,000 after purchasing an additional 36,809 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth $94,861,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Ball by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,388,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,339,000 after purchasing an additional 162,105 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.64.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $51.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Ball Co. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its 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. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

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.