MML Investors Services LLC Acquires 3,974 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 24.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,190 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,974 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ball by 334.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BALL. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ball from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

Ball Stock Performance

Shares of BALL opened at $55.61 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.11. Ball Co. has a 52 week low of $54.06 and a 52 week high of $71.32. The stock has a market cap of $16.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.91.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

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.