Hemenway Trust Co LLC Grows Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 46.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 275,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,120 shares during the quarter. Ball comprises 1.5% of Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $18,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Ball by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Ball by 26.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 196.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after buying an additional 28,421 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Ball by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 498,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,592,000 after acquiring an additional 70,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ball by 5.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 669,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,122,000 after purchasing an additional 36,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:BALL traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 46,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,675. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 4.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.74 and a 200-day moving average of $64.81. Ball Co. has a 1 year low of $48.35 and a 1 year high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 34.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BALL. UBS Group increased their price target on Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.75.

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.