State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,001 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ball were worth $4,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $774,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ball by 400.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after buying an additional 130,175 shares during the period. Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Ball in the third quarter valued at about $1,825,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 46.3% in the third quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 275,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after buying an additional 87,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 47,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $52.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.12, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $71.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho upgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.64.

Ball Company 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.