Analysts Set Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Target Price at $106.75

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $110.45.

CCK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Crown from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Crown from $107.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crown from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Crown Price Performance

Shares of CCK traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.98. 1,491,549 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,200,402. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.93 and a 200-day moving average of $88.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Crown has a one year low of $70.84 and a one year high of $98.48. The firm has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.79.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.45. Crown had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 25.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Crown's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $679,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 135,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,096,358. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCK. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 332 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Crown by 4.2% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 702 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Crown by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 992 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.