Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $95,000 Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 446.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Covington Capital Management bought a new position in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Ball by 80.4% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE BALL opened at $64.35 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $42.81 and a 1-year high of $67.97. The company has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $64.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 5.04%. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BALL shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Ball in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Ball to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.58.

Ball 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.