Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 12,393 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,657 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,393 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ball were worth $4,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Cozad Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ball by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 189,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,908,000 after acquiring an additional 42,864 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ball by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 50,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Ball by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 93,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,387,000 after acquiring an additional 24,470 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $63.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $42.81 and a twelve month high of $71.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $62.14 and its 200-day moving average is $64.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.80, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.85.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ball Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ball from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W upgraded Ball from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ball from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.08.

Ball 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.