Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ball (NYSE:BALL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup has lowered its price target for Ball Corporation's stock from $60.00 to $53.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating while suggesting a potential upside of 7.08% from the current price.
• A consensus of analysts gives Ball a Hold rating with an average target price of $64.36, with six analysts rating it as a Buy, four as Hold, and one as Sell.
• Ball reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with $0.90 EPS against an estimate of $0.87, and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 12.8% year-over-year.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $60.00 to $53.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.08% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BALL. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price target (down previously from $67.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Ball from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.36.

Ball Stock Up 2.1%

BALL stock opened at $49.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $68.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $53.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.97. The stock has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.06.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Ball had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 16.81%. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. Ball has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ball will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Daniel William Fisher sold 3,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.55, for a total transaction of $175,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 10,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $517,355.80. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BALL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ball by 12.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,718 shares of the company's stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 4,289 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ball by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,371 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ball by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 122,483 shares of the company's stock worth $6,378,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ball by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 601,522 shares of the company's stock worth $31,313,000 after acquiring an additional 103,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ball by 12.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 55,997 shares of the company's stock worth $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 6,106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Company 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.

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