Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 11,074.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 558,969 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 553,967 shares during the period. Ball comprises approximately 1.3% of Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of Ball worth $32,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in Ball by 80.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BALL shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ball from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Ball in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.23.

Ball Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of BALL stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.47. 1,533,702 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,669,448. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.96 and its 200-day moving average is $62.48. The company has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Ball Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.02%.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In other Ball news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $688,095.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel William Fisher bought 3,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares in the company, valued at $688,095.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.