Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Sells 529 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,597 shares of the company’s stock after selling 529 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Ball by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 1.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $51.92 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $53.01 and its 200 day moving average is $59.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.10, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

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 $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.64.

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.