Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook of Ball FY2025 Earnings

Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Ball in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, February 18th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $3.49 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.54. The consensus estimate for Ball’s current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ball’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.91 EPS.

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

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ball from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ball currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.25.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of BALL stock opened at $51.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.06, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.94. Ball has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $71.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ball

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ball by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,758,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,732,000 after acquiring an additional 803,728 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ball by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,418,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,065,000 after acquiring an additional 588,282 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ball by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,159,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,310,000 after acquiring an additional 840,357 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ball in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $190,105,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ball by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,055,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,447,000 after acquiring an additional 367,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Ball’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.32%.

Ball announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.