Meeder Asset Management Inc. Has $10.32 Million Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 187,272 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,582 shares during the period. Ball makes up about 0.7% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Ball worth $10,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Ball by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 26,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Ball by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.30.

Ball Stock Down 1.2 %

BALL opened at $51.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 4.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.18 and a 200 day moving average of $57.88. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

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.