Verition Fund Management LLC Has $416,000 Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Verition Fund Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 81.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,132 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,266 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Ball were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 210.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,298 shares of the company's stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 8,341 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Ball by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,317 shares of the company's stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Ball by 25.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 89,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,111,000 after buying an additional 18,327 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.9% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 28,910 shares of the company's stock worth $1,963,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,736,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,794. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $54.06 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Ball had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The business's revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Ball's payout ratio is 6.03%.

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.