Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 275,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 121,241 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Crown worth $26,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Crown by 3.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 941,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,949,000 after acquiring an additional 32,909 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Crown by 121.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,109,000 after purchasing an additional 12,058 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 16,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 5,397 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Crown by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 3,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Crown during the 3rd quarter valued at about $861,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $697,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 571,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,119,554. This trade represents a 1.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total transaction of $958,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,970,007.78. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,381,875. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Crown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCK opened at $83.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.33, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.54. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.61 and a 12 month high of $98.46.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Crown had a net margin of 0.83% and a return on equity of 24.57%. Analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.34 EPS for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 123.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CCK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Crown from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Crown in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Crown from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.62.

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.