SteelPeak Wealth LLC Sells 18,482 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 53.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,482 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Ball in the second quarter worth about $234,000. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ball by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 75,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,000 after purchasing an additional 5,745 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ball during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,857,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $55.35 on Thursday. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $51.96 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

Ball declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Ball from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

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.