Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,037 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,345 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Ball worth $11,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Ball by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in Ball by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ball by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 26,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BALL shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.30.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $51.45 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.98. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. Ball Co. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $71.32.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

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

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

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.