Balefire LLC Sells 32,287 Shares of Ball Corporation $BALL

Balefire LLC lowered its position in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 84.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,287 shares during the period. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 8.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in Ball in the first quarter worth $4,123,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Ball by 5.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 747,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,166,000 after buying an additional 38,600 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Ball during the first quarter valued at $3,522,000. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in shares of Ball during the 1st quarter valued at $1,543,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ball from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Ball and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Ball from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.85.

Ball Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BALL opened at $62.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.95. Ball Corporation has a 12-month low of $44.83 and a 12-month high of $68.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. Ball had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ball Corporation will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Ball’s payout ratio is presently 23.12%.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation is a leading provider of sustainable aluminum packaging solutions and advanced aerospace technologies. Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, the company serves customers in the beverage, food and aerosol markets through a global network of manufacturing facilities. With an emphasis on sustainability and innovation, Ball designs and produces metal cans, bottles and ends that support recycling and reduce environmental impact.

The company’s packaging segment specializes in beverage cans for soft drinks, beer and energy drinks, as well as metal packaging for food and personal care applications.