Crown (NYSE:CCK) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CCK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Crown from $107.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.92.

Crown Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of CCK stock opened at $78.84 on Friday. Crown has a fifty-two week low of $69.61 and a fifty-two week high of $98.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. Crown had a net margin of 0.83% and a return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Research analysts expect that Crown will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 123.46%.

Insider Transactions at Crown

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.73, for a total value of $725,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 563,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,524,572.94. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total value of $958,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,970,007.78. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 156.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Crown during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Crown in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Company Profile

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.