VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 122,350 Ball Corporation $BALL

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 122,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,635,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 135.0% in the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ball in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ball during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in Ball during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mandy Glew sold 5,626 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $358,938.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,934.20. This represents a 43.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BALL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ball from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $72.00 price target on Ball in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ball from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut Ball from a “buy” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.69.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $61.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.95. Ball Corporation has a 1-year low of $44.83 and a 1-year high of $68.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.95.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Ball had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 18.76%. Ball’s revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ball Corporation will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Ball’s payout ratio is 22.66%.

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.