California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 440,725 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,594 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.14% of Ball worth $25,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $444,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after buying an additional 17,829 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 66,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after buying an additional 3,828 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 6.6 %

NYSE:BALL opened at $69.80 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $42.81 and a 52-week high of $70.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.89.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.12. Ball had a return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 5.04%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Ball’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Ball from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Ball in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ball from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.