The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 168,887 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,112 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ball were worth $9,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted 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 buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake 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 grew its stake in Ball by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $51.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.57. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $70.97. The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 4.10, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Mizuho cut their price target on Ball from $63.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.78.

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.