Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 45,259 Shares of Ball Corporation $BALL

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 122.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 82,294 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,259 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Ball were worth $4,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BALL. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 135.0% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Ball during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Ball by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ball from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Truist Financial set a $78.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Ball from a “buy” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Insider Activity at Ball

In related news, SVP Mandy Glew sold 5,626 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total value of $358,938.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,934.20. This represents a 43.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE BALL opened at $65.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Ball Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.83 and a 52 week high of $68.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.38.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. Ball had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ball Corporation will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 22.66%.

Ball Profile

Ball Corporation is a global supplier of sustainable aluminum packaging. The company primarily manufactures aluminum beverage cans, bottles and cups used by beer, soft-drink, energy-drink and other beverage companies. Its products are designed to support brand presentation, product protection and recycling throughout the packaging lifecycle.

Ball serves customers across North and South America, Europe and other international markets through a network of manufacturing facilities. The company also develops and markets aluminum packaging products for additional consumer and household applications, including its reusable and recyclable Ball Aluminum Cup.

Founded in 1880 as a manufacturer of glass containers, Ball evolved into a major producer of metal packaging and became particularly known for its aluminum beverage cans.