Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,718 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $11,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball in the third quarter worth $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Ball during the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W raised Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $61.08 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.91. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $54.06 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

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.