Guggenheim Capital LLC Increases Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 15.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,124 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,006 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 16.6% during the first quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 20,204,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,453,000 after buying an additional 2,878,786 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ball by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,927,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,536,000 after buying an additional 262,165 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Ball by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,979,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,081,000 after buying an additional 1,200,145 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,663,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,165,000 after purchasing an additional 140,905 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,980,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,574,000 after purchasing an additional 207,346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Bank of America cut shares of Ball from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $61.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ball from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In other Ball news, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total transaction of $200,206.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,405.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total value of $26,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,252.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total transaction of $200,206.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,405.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ball Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ball stock opened at $54.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.34 and its 200 day moving average is $55.01. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $46.00 and a twelve month high of $62.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. Ball had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.75%.

About Ball

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.