Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $102.69.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Crown from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Crown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Crown Trading Up 4.2 %

NYSE:CCK opened at $97.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.86. Crown has a 1 year low of $69.61 and a 1 year high of $98.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.22. Crown had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 23.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Crown’s payout ratio is 28.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $643,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 586,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,323,381.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $643,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 586,178 shares in the company, valued at $50,323,381.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.03, for a total value of $1,275,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 593,678 shares in the company, valued at $50,480,440.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,506 shares of company stock worth $3,392,349 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Crown by 6.1% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Crown by 36.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Crown by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management raised its position in Crown by 2.2% in the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 11,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.