Crown (NYSE:CCK) Raised to Outperform at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $90.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $85.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Crown from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Crown from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $97.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Crown from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Crown in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $99.21.

Crown Price Performance

Shares of CCK opened at $76.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.88. Crown has a 1-year low of $69.61 and a 1-year high of $96.35.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Crown had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 25.75%. Crown’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crown will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is 26.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCK. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 202.1% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,019,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $249,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020,200 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown during the 4th quarter valued at about $123,506,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,709,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,107 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 474.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Crown during the 4th quarter valued at about $84,960,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

About Crown

Crown Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the packaging business in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The company manufactures and sells recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, aluminum caps, non-beverage cans, and aerosol cans and closures.