Welch & Forbes LLC Has $15.67 Million Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 284,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,597 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned 0.10% of Ball worth $15,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth $774,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 400.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after purchasing an additional 130,175 shares during the period. Estate Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth $1,825,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 46.3% during the third quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 275,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,681,000 after purchasing an additional 87,120 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 531,933.3% during the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 47,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 0.6 %

BALL opened at $52.16 on Friday. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $48.95 and a 1-year 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 cap of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho raised shares of 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, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.64.

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.