Ball Co. (NYSE:BLL) VP Jeff A. Knobel sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.38, for a total transaction of $429,843.16. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 71,140 shares in the company, valued at $4,508,853.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.
BLL stock opened at $64.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.87. Ball Co. has a 1-year low of $42.62 and a 1-year high of $81.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a PE ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.68.
Ball (NYSE:BLL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.02). Ball had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Ball’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.27%.
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Ball in the 2nd quarter valued at $116,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 640.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,743,000 after acquiring an additional 46,256 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ball in the second quarter valued at about $1,736,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Ball by 8.2% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 50,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,524,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Ball by 80.1% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 152,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,686,000 after acquiring an additional 67,885 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.71% of the company’s stock.
Several research analysts have weighed in on BLL shares. ValuEngine lowered Ball from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Co reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $86.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.16.
Ball Company Profile
Ball Corp. provides metal packaging for beverages, foods and household products, and of aerospace and other technologies and services to commercial and governmental customers. It operates through the following business segments: Beverage Packaging, North and Central America; Beverage Packaging, South America; Beverage Packaging, Europe; Food and Aerosol Packaging; and Aerospace.
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