Ball Co. to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $0.75 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts (NYSE:BALL)

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ball in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 3rd. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $0.75 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.78. The consensus estimate for Ball’s current full-year earnings is $3.11 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ball’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.93 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.70 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.91 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.36 EPS.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Ball had a return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Ball from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Ball from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Ball from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Ball from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $74.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $71.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.58.

Ball Stock Performance

Ball stock opened at $67.36 on Monday. Ball has a 12-month low of $42.81 and a 12-month high of $67.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.50. The stock has a market cap of $21.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.89.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BALL. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Ball by 446.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covington Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Ball during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in Ball by 80.4% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Ball during the third quarter worth $29,000. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ball

In other Ball news, insider Daniel William Fisher purchased 3,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.56 per share, with a total value of $249,782.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 111,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,222,068.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

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.