APG Asset Management N.V. Has $10.82 Million Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 431.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,200 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 165,000 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.07% of Ball worth $10,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Stock Up 0.2 %

BALL stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $47.68. 230,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,095,631. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Ball Co. has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.21.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research 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 stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and set a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.30.

About Ball

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.