Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 17,571 Shares of Ball Corporation $BALL

Schroder Investment Management Group cut its position in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,057,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,571 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.39% of Ball worth $52,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the second quarter worth $192,463,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ball by 1,465.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,314,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,746,000 after buying an additional 1,230,791 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Ball during the second quarter worth about $43,732,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ball by 55.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,055,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,270,000 after buying an additional 730,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ball by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,828,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,003,000 after acquiring an additional 455,089 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In other news, SVP Fauze Villatoro acquired 1,551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.51 per share, with a total value of $100,055.01. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president owned 13,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,818.78. The trade was a 12.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen Pitre sold 10,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $710,275.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,450,118.36. This represents a 22.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on BALL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price target on Ball in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.46.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of Ball stock opened at $61.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Ball Corporation has a one year low of $43.51 and a one year high of $68.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Ball had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 6.93%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. Analysts forecast that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.10%.

Ball Profile

Ball Corporation is a leading provider of sustainable aluminum packaging solutions and advanced aerospace technologies. Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, the company serves customers in the beverage, food and aerosol markets through a global network of manufacturing facilities. With an emphasis on sustainability and innovation, Ball designs and produces metal cans, bottles and ends that support recycling and reduce environmental impact.

The company’s packaging segment specializes in beverage cans for soft drinks, beer and energy drinks, as well as metal packaging for food and personal care applications.