Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 309,587 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,954,876 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 309,587 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 2.33% of Ball worth $453,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BALL. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Ball by 458.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,018,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,139,000 after purchasing an additional 836,293 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 15.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,065,000 after purchasing an additional 588,282 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ball by 1,875.2% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 275,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,520,000 after purchasing an additional 261,303 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Ball by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,621,553 shares of the company's stock worth $97,326,000 after buying an additional 241,502 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Ball by 402.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 265,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,014,000 after buying an additional 212,430 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Ball stock traded up $0.25 on Friday, hitting $58.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,737,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,794. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.05 and a 200-day moving average of $63.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $54.06 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Ball's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho raised Ball from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Ball 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.