Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 82,449 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Silgan were worth $9,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Silgan by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 40,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Silgan by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Silgan by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Silgan by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Silgan by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Silgan Stock Performance

Shares of SLGN opened at $54.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.09. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.88 and a 1 year high of $55.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.68.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Silgan had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 18.76%. Silgan’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Silgan Holdings Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Silgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Silgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Silgan from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Silgan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Silgan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Silgan from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Silgan from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

Silgan Company Profile

Silgan Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells rigid packaging solutions for consumer goods products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Dispensing and Specialty Closures, Metal Containers, and Custom Containers. The Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment offers a range of metal and plastic closures, and dispensing systems for food, beverage, health care, garden, home, personal care, beauty products, and hard surface cleaning products, as well as capping/sealing equipment and detection systems.