Weiss Asset Management LP Takes Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 92,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,448,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $704,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY bought a new position in Ball in the third quarter valued at approximately $904,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $81,141,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,197,000. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,267,000. Institutional investors own 82.65% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

BALL stock opened at $51.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.88. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $46.00 and a 1 year high of $94.79. The stock has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14.

Ball (NYSE:BALL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 24.47% and a net margin of 4.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BALL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ball from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ball from $64.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ball from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ball from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ball news, Director John A. Hayes sold 100,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $5,840,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 480,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,064,236.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ball Profile

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Ball Corp. provides metal packaging for beverages, foods, and household products. It operates through the following business segments: Beverage Packaging North and Central America, Beverage Packaging South America, Beverage Packaging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Aerospace. The Beverage Packaging North and Central America segment includes multi-year supply contracts to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.