The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Position in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 82.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 839,649 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.06% of Ball worth $12,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BALL. Mirova US LLC lifted its position in Ball by 0.5% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 2,495,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,780,000 after purchasing an additional 13,320 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,414,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,951,000 after buying an additional 171,924 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew 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 worth $116,864,000 after acquiring an additional 99,306 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its position in Ball by 5.2% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 790,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,729,000 after acquiring an additional 38,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc lifted its holdings in Ball by 0.3% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 751,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,085,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE BALL opened at $62.83 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ball Co. has a 12 month low of $54.06 and a 12 month high of $71.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.64 and its 200 day moving average is $64.04. The stock has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a PE ratio of 4.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

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.