Swedbank AB Reduces Stock Position in Ball Corporation $BALL

Swedbank AB cut its stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,892 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,765 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of Ball worth $9,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 764.9% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 813 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ball by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $48.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.10. Ball Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $68.12.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 16.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ball has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is 41.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Daniel William Fisher sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.55, for a total value of $175,270.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 10,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,355.80. This represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BALL shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $66.00 price objective (down from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.27.

About Ball

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.