Bank of Stockton Purchases 1,402 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Bank of Stockton raised its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,477 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,402 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Ball were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $774,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 400.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,048,000 after purchasing an additional 130,175 shares during the last quarter. Estate Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,825,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 275,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after purchasing an additional 87,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 531,933.3% during the 4th quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 47,874 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $50.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $53.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.09.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BALL. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.25.

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.