StockNews.com Upgrades Crown (NYSE:CCK) to “Buy”

Crown (NYSE:CCK) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

CCK has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Crown from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $110.00 price objective on Crown in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.62.

Crown Stock Performance

CCK opened at $80.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.59. Crown has a 52-week low of $69.61 and a 52-week high of $98.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 99.43, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Crown had a net margin of 0.83% and a return on equity of 24.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crown will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.73, for a total value of $725,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 563,678 shares in the company, valued at $54,524,572.94. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total value of $958,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,970,007.78. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,381,875. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCK. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 121.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 12,058 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 249,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,295 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 139.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,104,000 after buying an additional 71,227 shares during the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Crown by 7.8% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 100,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,676,000 after buying an additional 7,280 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Crown by 62.0% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 23,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 8,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

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.