Aviva PLC Buys 203,298 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 523,765 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 203,298 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned 0.18% of Ball worth $28,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BALL. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Ball by 5.1% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $909,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Ball by 8.2% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 137,203 shares of the company's stock worth $9,317,000 after purchasing an additional 10,359 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ball by 10.7% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,772 shares of the company's stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 24.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 3,974 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

BALL stock traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.39. The company had a trading volume of 962,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,531. The company has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.74, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $43.51 and a 1-year high of $71.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.60.

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

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Ball's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.20.

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.