M&G PLC Cuts Stake in Ball Corporation $BALL

M&G PLC lessened its stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 678,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,729 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Ball were worth $33,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Ball by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after buying an additional 23,657 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter valued at approximately $583,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.8% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,272,000 after purchasing an additional 11,731 shares during the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT lifted its position in Ball by 73.7% during the third quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 46,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 19,776 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ball in the third quarter worth approximately $464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BALL. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price objective on Ball in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ball from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.46.

Ball Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of BALL stock opened at $67.30 on Monday. Ball Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $68.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.18.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Ball had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 18.10%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ball Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ball’s payout ratio is currently 24.10%.

Ball 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.