Mariner LLC Grows Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,198,281 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,001 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $66,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Ball by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ball by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ball by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Ball stock opened at $48.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a PE ratio of 3.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.27.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. 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 previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.20.

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.