Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $55.48 and last traded at $55.46, with a volume of 106144 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SLGN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Silgan from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Silgan from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 boosted their target price on Silgan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Silgan from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Silgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

Silgan Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.29 and a 200-day moving average of $48.90. The company has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Silgan Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Silgan’s payout ratio is 27.54%.

Institutional Trading of Silgan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SLGN. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Silgan by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Silgan by 2,838.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Silgan by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Silgan by 69.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Silgan in the second quarter valued at about $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

About Silgan

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.