Traders Buy Large Volume of Crown Put Options (NYSE:CCK)

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 9,986 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 902% compared to the average daily volume of 997 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Crown from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Crown from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Crown from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Crown in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Crown from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.31.

Crown Price Performance

NYSE:CCK traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.99. The company had a trading volume of 954,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,117,693. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Crown has a one year low of $69.61 and a one year high of $96.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.85.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 23.95% and a net margin of 3.51%. Crown’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that Crown will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.82%.

Insider Activity

In other Crown news, Director James H. Miller sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $746,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,068,470.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director James H. Miller sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $746,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,068,470.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $637,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 608,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,737,630. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,000 shares of company stock worth $3,300,420 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Crown during the first quarter worth $119,167,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Crown in the 4th quarter valued at $109,826,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Crown by 474.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,312 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in Crown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,960,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Crown during the 1st quarter worth $29,981,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.