Ball (NYSE:BALL) Price Target Raised to $69.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $69.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential downside of 2.43% from the stock's current price.

BALL has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Ball in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Ball from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ball presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.08.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL traded up $0.92 on Monday, hitting $70.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,583,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,872,452. Ball has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $70.82. The company has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.12 and a 200-day moving average of $58.11.

Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Ball had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 21.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ball will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ball

In other Ball news, insider Daniel William Fisher acquired 3,869 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ball by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 25,562 shares of the company's stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Ball by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,304,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Ball by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 26,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ball by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,704 shares of the company's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ball

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.