Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Bought by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 351,103 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,623 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.11% of Ball worth $20,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ball by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its stake in Ball by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Ball by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Ball by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in shares of Ball by 80.4% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $70.72 on Tuesday. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $42.81 and a 12 month high of $70.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 5.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.56 per share, for a total transaction of $249,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,222,068.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ball from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $71.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Ball in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.08.

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.