Crown Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CCK)

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 9,980 put options on the company. This is an increase of 426% compared to the average volume of 1,897 put options.

Crown Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of CCK opened at $76.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Crown has a 1 year low of $69.61 and a 1 year high of $96.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.84. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.06. Crown had a net margin of 3.51% and a return on equity of 23.95%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. Crown’s dividend 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $51,737,630. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $637,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 608,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,737,630. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Miller sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $746,370.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,068,470.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,300,420. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCK. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Crown by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Crown by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Crown by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Crown by 1.3% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 13,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Crown by 0.4% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,257,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CCK. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Crown in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Crown in a research note on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital increased 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.29.

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.