By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL – Free Report) by 85.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 238,983 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,853 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.08% of Ball worth $13,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ball by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Ball in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 298.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.
Ball Trading Down 1.2 %
Ball stock opened at $51.45 on Monday. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 4.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.88. 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 (NYSE:BALL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ball declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Ball Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued 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 was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
BALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded 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 reissued 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.30.
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.
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BALL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Ball Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Ball and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.