AMG National Trust Bank Buys 162,105 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,388,227 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 162,105 shares during the period. Ball comprises 2.1% of AMG National Trust Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. AMG National Trust Bank owned about 0.47% of Ball worth $76,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,861,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 15.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,065,000 after purchasing an additional 588,282 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 1,335.8% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,137,000 after purchasing an additional 576,078 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $453,144,000 after purchasing an additional 309,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 3,599.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 317,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,494,000 after purchasing an additional 308,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

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Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL traded up $2.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $54.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,330,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,857. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.90 and a 200-day moving average of $59.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.64.

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.