Jag Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,729 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after buying an additional 309,587 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,065,000 after buying an additional 588,282 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,891,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,253,000 after buying an additional 36,809 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 790,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,729,000 after buying an additional 38,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 707,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,030,000 after buying an additional 87,577 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $52.08 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.51. 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 capitalization of $14.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.11, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $71.32.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ball from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ball presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

Ball 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.