Ball (NYSE:BALL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Ball (NYSE:BALL) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $75.00 to $77.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.88% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ball from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ball from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down from $78.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ball from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Ball from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.15.

Ball Price Performance

Ball stock traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.88. 2,571,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,401,678. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.38 and its 200-day moving average is $61.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.94. Ball has a 52 week low of $46.06 and a 52 week high of $69.57.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The business had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ball will post 4.00 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ball news, SVP Mandy Glew sold 5,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 7,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,934.20. This represents a 43.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BALL. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Ball by 268.0% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,244,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,924,000 after purchasing an additional 906,584 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 324.3% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 16,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 12,898 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 64.1% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,454,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,487,000 after purchasing an additional 568,356 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ball by 6.5% during the third quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 622,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,456,000 after purchasing an additional 38,006 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Ball by 17.0% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Ball

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

About Ball

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.