Ball Corp. resumed with a Neutral at Citi

Citi resumed coverage of Ball Corp. with a Neutral rating and $70 price target. Ball has successfully streamlined its portfolio and monetized Aerospace with $4.5B in net proceeds, which could bring net leverage to 2.5 times by year-end 2024, which would be Ball’s “lowest leverage in a decade,” the analyst tells investors. While this set-up could potentially lead to $3B-plus in share repurchases from 2024-26, the firm views volume growth, ongoing productivity in beverage cans and a greatly reduced share count as largely priced in following a 16% run-up in shares over the past three months, the analyst added.