Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 153,155 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,296 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.05% of Ball worth $8,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BALL. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $53.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a PE ratio of 4.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $70.07. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $50.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.56.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $83.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

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.