Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Trims Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. decreased its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,520 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,110 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Ball were worth $2,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ball by 35.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.80.

Ball Trading Up 0.1 %

BALL opened at $50.57 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $50.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.25. The company has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.99, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. Ball Co. has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball's payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually 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.

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