Crown (NYSE:CCK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Crown from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Crown from $112.00 to $91.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Crown from $102.00 to $94.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $100.21.

Crown Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of CCK stock opened at $85.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.31. Crown has a 1 year low of $69.61 and a 1 year high of $95.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.22. Crown had a return on equity of 23.96% and a net margin of 3.68%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crown will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Crown’s payout ratio is presently 28.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 608,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,737,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $637,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 608,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,737,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.18, for a total value of $1,916,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 616,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,486,042.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock worth $4,575,870 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 153,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,185,000 after purchasing an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,825,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,089,029,000 after buying an additional 173,460 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 245.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 62,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,784,000 after acquiring an additional 44,630 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Crown by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,320,502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $121,614,000 after acquiring an additional 44,195 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Crown in the fourth quarter valued at $3,122,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Company Profile

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.