Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.7692.

Several analysts have recently commented on BALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ball from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ball from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on Ball from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 target price on Ball in a report on Wednesday, February 4th.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In other news, SVP Kathleen Pitre sold 10,660 shares of Ball stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $710,275.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,450,118.36. This trade represents a 22.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Fauze Villatoro bought 1,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.51 per share, with a total value of $100,055.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $888,818.78. This represents a 12.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Ball by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,946,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,178,000 after buying an additional 195,573 shares during the last quarter. Downshift Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ball in the 4th quarter valued at $491,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 65,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,495,000 after acquiring an additional 26,978 shares in the last quarter. Arwa LLC bought a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $501,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter worth $1,869,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $59.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.11. Ball has a 12-month low of $43.51 and a 12-month high of $68.29.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Ball had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ball will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.10%.

About Ball

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.