Impax Asset Management Group plc Purchases 10,663 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 458,416 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,663 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Ball were worth $25,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ball during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Ball during the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Ball by 29.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ball stock opened at $50.78 on Tuesday. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.88. The firm has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.01, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BALL. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.25.

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.