KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $5.82 Million in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 105,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,822,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 68.9% during 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 grew its stake in Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ball in the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

BALL stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,765,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,346. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.93. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

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Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Ball's payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped 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. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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 issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.30.

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.