KBC Group NV Buys 212,430 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

KBC Group NV raised its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 402.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,261 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 212,430 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ball were worth $18,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the third quarter worth $47,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 598.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 334.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 29.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

BALL opened at $60.92 on Friday. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.62 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.51 and a 200 day moving average of $64.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.75.

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.