Cibc World Markets Corp Acquires 120,300 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 289.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,908 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 120,300 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Ball worth $8,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Ball by 7.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ball by 13.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 216,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,692,000 after buying an additional 25,048 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 3.8% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 10.3% during the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 0.9 %

Ball stock opened at $51.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 4.09, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.57 and its 200 day moving average is $58.62. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously 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 given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ball currently 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.