Seven Eight Capital LP Purchases 8,206 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Seven Eight Capital LP grew its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 141.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,020 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,206 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Ball were worth $773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Ball by 2.2% during the first quarter. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP now owns 8,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Veritable L.P. raised its stake in Ball by 0.9% in the first quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 21,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ball by 1.1% in the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Ball by 9.4% in the first quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Ball by 0.6% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 36,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,037,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In other Ball news, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total value of $200,206.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,405.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ball news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of Ball 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,252.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of Ball 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 transaction, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Ball Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of BALL stock opened at $52.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.80. Ball Co. has a one year low of $46.00 and a one year high of $62.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. Ball had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The company’s revenue was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Ball from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ball from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.79.

Ball Company Profile

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.