Sone Capital Management LLC Takes $8.60 Million Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 156,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,603,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ball by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,732,000 after acquiring an additional 803,728 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ball by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,310,000 after purchasing an additional 840,357 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth $190,105,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,055,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,447,000 after buying an additional 367,798 shares during the period. Finally, London Co. of Virginia raised its holdings in Ball by 61.1% in the 4th quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,054,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,668 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Trading Up 0.7%

BALL stock opened at $53.76 on Monday. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $43.51 and a 1-year high of $70.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.29 and its 200-day moving average is $53.84. The firm has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ball from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

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.