National Bank of Canada FI Sells 857 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 32.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,755 shares of the company’s stock after selling 857 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Ball were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ball by 10.7% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ball in the 3rd quarter worth $4,080,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Ball by 668.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 6,676 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Ball by 8.2% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 137,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,317,000 after purchasing an additional 10,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in Ball by 46.9% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BALL opened at $57.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.25. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $54.06 and a 1-year high of $71.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.36, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Ball in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.