Eukles Asset Management Decreases Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Eukles Asset Management decreased its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,546 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,338 shares during the period. Ball comprises approximately 1.4% of Eukles Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Ball were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth $66,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 29.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Ball Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BALL stock opened at $50.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $50.44 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.91.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.