Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Position in Ball Corporation $BALL

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,392 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,698 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $3,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Ball in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Ball by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 725 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Ball stock opened at $61.74 on Monday. Ball Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.83 and a fifty-two week high of $68.29. The firm has a market cap of $16.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $57.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 6.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ball Corporation will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Ball from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $73.00 target price on Ball and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Ball from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.92.

About Ball

Ball Corporation is a leading provider of sustainable aluminum packaging solutions and advanced aerospace technologies. Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, the company serves customers in the beverage, food and aerosol markets through a global network of manufacturing facilities. With an emphasis on sustainability and innovation, Ball designs and produces metal cans, bottles and ends that support recycling and reduce environmental impact.

The company’s packaging segment specializes in beverage cans for soft drinks, beer and energy drinks, as well as metal packaging for food and personal care applications.