SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Buys 1,618 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 367.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,058 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $51.92 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.37. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BALL shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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.com, Ball has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.