Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Cuts Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,464 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,305 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Ball were worth $7,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,861,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,065,000 after purchasing an additional 588,282 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 1,335.8% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,137,000 after buying an additional 576,078 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA raised its position in shares of Ball by 124.4% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 587,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,367,000 after buying an additional 325,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 4.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $51.45 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.88. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.30.

About Ball

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.