Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Thirteen brokerages give Ball a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with eight buys, four holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $71.69 versus the reported share price of $61.02.
• Ball exceeded quarterly expectations: The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share, above the $0.99 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $4 billion and rose 19.7% year over year.
• Institutional ownership remains high: Hedge funds and other institutions own 86.51% of Ball, while recent investors including BlackRock, Norges Bank and Deutsche Bank acquired or increased stakes. Ball also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, yielding about 1.3%.

Shares of Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.6923.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $78.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $72.00 target price on shares of Ball in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ball from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ball from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Ball

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ball during the second quarter worth about $1,310,991,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ball by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,225,631 shares of the company's stock worth $382,742,000 after buying an additional 266,238 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ball by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,999,409 shares of the company's stock worth $354,605,000 after buying an additional 340,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ball during the 4th quarter worth approximately $178,025,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Ball during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $163,768,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Ball Stock Up 0.5%

Ball stock opened at $61.02 on Wednesday. Ball has a 1-year low of $44.83 and a 1-year high of $68.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.74. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.95.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 6.61%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Ball has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.930- EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ball will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ball's payout ratio is 22.66%.

About Ball

Ball Corporation NYSE: BALL is a global manufacturer of sustainable aluminum packaging products. The company primarily serves the beverage, personal care and household-product industries, producing aluminum beverage cans, bottles, aerosol containers and related packaging solutions. Its products are used by brand owners and manufacturers across a range of consumer markets.

Founded in 1880 as a manufacturer of glass containers, Ball gradually transitioned toward metal packaging and became best known for its aluminum beverage-can business.

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