Barclays PLC Acquires 272,644 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Barclays PLC lifted its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,078,705 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 272,644 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.36% of Ball worth $59,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ball by 298.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.30.

Ball Stock Performance

BALL stock traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.08. 219,017 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,715,451. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Ball's payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Company 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.