Crown (NYSE:CCK) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CCK. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Crown from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Crown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Crown from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Crown from $112.00 to $91.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $101.14.

Crown Trading Down 0.5 %

CCK opened at $90.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $84.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Crown has a 12-month low of $69.61 and a 12-month high of $93.79.

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

Crown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.82%.

Insider Activity at Crown

In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $50,480,440.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Crown news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.58, for a total value of $679,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,416,653.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 593,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,480,440.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $2,598,675 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCK. Sessa Capital IM L.P. lifted its holdings in Crown by 153.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,289,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,697,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,374 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Crown in the 1st quarter valued at about $119,167,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown during the fourth quarter valued at about $109,826,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Crown by 474.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,854,000 after buying an additional 1,003,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Crown during the fourth 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.