Impax Asset Management Group plc Acquires 10,663 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 458,416 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,663 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.15% of Ball worth $25,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,065,000 after purchasing an additional 588,282 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp lifted its holdings in Ball by 1,335.8% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,137,000 after buying an additional 576,078 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ball by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after acquiring an additional 309,587 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 3,599.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 317,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,494,000 after acquiring an additional 308,744 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ball by 402.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 265,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,014,000 after acquiring an additional 212,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $50.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.01, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.60 and a 200 day moving average of $59.88.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

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.