Jensen Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 98.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,242,939 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ball were worth $2,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BALL. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 14,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Ball in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,757,000. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Ball by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.64.

Ball Price Performance

BALL stock opened at $51.91 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average price of $52.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.78. The stock has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a PE ratio of 4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly 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. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.