Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 59.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,725 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,928 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Ball were worth $1,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Ball by 2.1% in the 4th 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. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Ball by 68.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 26,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its position in Ball by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,050 shares of the company's stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Ball by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.80.

Ball Trading Up 2.3 %

BALL stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $49.63. 454,805 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,711,451. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a PE ratio of 3.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $50.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.50. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.