Verition Fund Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 467.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 368,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 303,647 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Crown worth $35,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Crown by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Crown by 156.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Crown in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Crown during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Crown stock opened at $93.02 on Friday. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.61 and a 1 year high of $98.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 114.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.04.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 0.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 123.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Loop Capital raised their price target on Crown from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Crown from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James H. Miller sold 1,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total value of $96,173.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,424 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,734.40. The trade was a 7.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.73, for a total value of $725,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 563,678 shares in the company, valued at $54,524,572.94. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,506 shares of company stock valued at $3,157,399 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.