Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $146.84 Million Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,664,478 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,383 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.85% of Ball worth $146,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BALL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Ball by 66.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,830,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,294,000 after purchasing an additional 5,903,021 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,878,786 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $139,189,000. Vulcan Value Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $123,089,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at $90,616,000. 84.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $51.87 on Wednesday. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.00 and a fifty-two week high of $62.14. The stock has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.77.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ball

In other Ball news, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.41, for a total value of $200,206.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,405.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ball news, VP Deron Goodwin sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 12,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,252.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David A. Kaufman sold 3,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 8,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,405.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on BALL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Ball from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ball from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ball from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. 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 research report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.79.

Ball 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.