Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 66.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 635,954 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,243,277 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $36,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Jag Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ball by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 25,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ball by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $70.12 on Thursday. Ball Co. has a one year low of $42.81 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 5.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.98.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 31.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insider Activity at Ball

In related news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ball news, Director Pedro Henrique Mariani sold 5,000 shares of Ball stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $688,095.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. TheStreet upgraded Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ball from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.23.

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.