Ball (NYSE:BALL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ball (NYSE:BALL) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $65.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BALL. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ball from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ball from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Ball from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.15.

Ball Stock Performance

NYSE BALL opened at $65.88 on Wednesday. Ball has a 1 year low of $46.06 and a 1 year high of $69.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.94.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Ball had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The business’s revenue was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 4.00 EPS for the current year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In related news, SVP Mandy Glew sold 5,626 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total value of $358,938.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BALL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ball in the second quarter worth $1,310,991,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Ball in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $163,768,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Ball during the second quarter worth $160,506,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ball during the 2nd quarter worth $143,165,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ball in the second quarter valued at about $96,380,000. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ball this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $77 from $75 and maintained a Buy rating; RBC also lifted its target to $77, from $73, and kept its Outperform rating. Both targets imply about 17% upside from the cited $65.88 share price. Citigroup price-target report RBC analyst recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated its Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in Ball’s prospects. Truist rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS raised its target to $68 from $63 but kept a Neutral rating, suggesting a more modest view of potential gains. UBS price-target report
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho set a new $75 price target. Ball’s reported consensus target is $71.46, reflecting generally positive expectations but some variation among analysts. Mizuho price-target report Consensus price-target report
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut Ball’s rating to Neutral, a cautious counterpoint to the recent target increases. JPMorgan rating report

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation is a global supplier of sustainable aluminum packaging. The company primarily manufactures aluminum beverage cans, bottles and cups used by beer, soft-drink, energy-drink and other beverage companies. Its products are designed to support brand presentation, product protection and recycling throughout the packaging lifecycle.

Ball serves customers across North and South America, Europe and other international markets through a network of manufacturing facilities. The company also develops and markets aluminum packaging products for additional consumer and household applications, including its reusable and recyclable Ball Aluminum Cup.

Founded in 1880 as a manufacturer of glass containers, Ball evolved into a major producer of metal packaging and became particularly known for its aluminum beverage cans.