Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 40.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 74,733 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $6,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Ball by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 26,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ball by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 52,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ball by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,139,000 after buying an additional 1,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of Ball stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.88. 1,640,199 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,080,742. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.24. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $42.81 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a market capitalization of $21.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ball news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 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 acquisition, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho raised their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.23.

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.