Crown (NYSE:CCK) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $108.79 and last traded at $108.36, with a volume of 17778 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Crown from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Crown from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Crown from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.73.

Crown Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.43.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.45. Crown had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 26.98%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Crown's payout ratio is 22.37%.

Insider Activity at Crown

In related news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total transaction of $211,743.30. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $447,345. This trade represents a 32.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $679,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 135,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,096,358. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Crown by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Crown by 325.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 846 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 812,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,183,000 after purchasing an additional 8,739 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,884,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,466,000. 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.