Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 690,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,070 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Ball worth $38,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Ball by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,144,000 after acquiring an additional 309,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,065,000 after purchasing an additional 588,282 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 6.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,720,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,864,000 after purchasing an additional 99,306 shares during the period. M&G PLC raised its stake in shares of Ball by 5.2% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 790,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,729,000 after purchasing an additional 38,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ball by 14.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 707,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,030,000 after purchasing an additional 87,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock opened at $50.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 3.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $50.23 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. 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 stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BALL shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho raised 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

About Ball

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.