Zacks Research Weighs in on Ball’s Q1 Earnings (NYSE:BALL)

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) – Analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Ball in a note issued to investors on Friday, April 4th. Zacks Research analyst S. Deb now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.69 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.70. The consensus estimate for Ball’s current full-year earnings is $3.48 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ball’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.84 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.88 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.45 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $0.99 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Ball from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.20.

Ball Price Performance

NYSE:BALL opened at $44.92 on Monday. Ball has a 52-week low of $44.35 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.96.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in Ball by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ball by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ball in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ball by 298.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 24.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

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.