Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Sells 20,893 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lessened its stake in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 974,834 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,893 shares during the period. Ball accounts for about 1.4% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned about 0.33% of Ball worth $66,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ball by 306.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 23,941 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Ball by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 153,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,211,000 after acquiring an additional 10,427 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ball in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,292,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 400.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after acquiring an additional 130,175 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ball Price Performance

BALL stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.98. The stock had a trading volume of 26,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,802,931. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.71, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.90. 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 50-day moving average price is $63.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.25. Ball Co. has a twelve month low of $53.57 and a twelve month high of $71.32.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ball Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 1.29%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BALL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Ball from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.75.

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.