Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 97,509 Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 97,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,388,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Ball by 68.9% during the fourth 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 period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 298.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of Ball stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $48.37. 231,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,099,034. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BALL. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.20.

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.