Ball Corporation $BALL Holdings Boosted by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 64.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,454,338 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 568,356 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.55% of Ball worth $81,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BALL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,310,991,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 8.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,416,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $837,196,000 after buying an additional 1,024,861 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,999,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,605,000 after buying an additional 340,677 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the second quarter valued at about $163,768,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Ball during the second quarter worth about $160,506,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE BALL traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.39. 1,191,090 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,498,071. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.34. The company has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.65 and a 1-year high of $69.57.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Ball had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 3.52%. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ball Corporation will post 4.00 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Ball news, SVP Mandy Glew sold 5,626 shares of Ball stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $358,938.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,934.20. This trade represents a 43.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BALL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ball from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ball from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ball from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down from $78.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.15.

Ball Profile

Ball Corporation is a global supplier of aluminum packaging, best known for making beverage cans and ends for beverage companies. Its products are used for a range of drinks, including beer, soft drinks, energy drinks and other beverages. The company also offers aluminum cups and other specialty packaging products. Ball serves customers across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Its packaging operations support beverage brands and producers with manufacturing capabilities in multiple regions.