Crown (NYSE:CCK) Price Target Raised to $105.00 at Morgan Stanley

Crown (NYSE:CCK) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 16.18% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CCK. Bank of America increased their price objective on Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Crown from $112.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Crown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.14.

Crown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCK opened at $90.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.85. Crown has a twelve month low of $69.61 and a twelve month high of $93.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.84.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 23.96% and a net margin of 3.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Crown will post 6.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Crown

In other Crown news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 593,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,480,440.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $643,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 586,178 shares in the company, valued at $50,323,381.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,275,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 593,678 shares in the company, valued at $50,480,440.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sessa Capital IM L.P. raised its stake in shares of Crown by 153.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,289,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,374 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Crown in the first quarter valued at $119,167,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown in the fourth quarter valued at $109,826,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown by 474.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Crown in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,960,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.