Crown (NYSE:CCK) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Crown (NYSE:CCK) has received an upgrade from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling positive sentiment among analysts.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.15, exceeding estimates, along with a revenue increase of 3.6% compared to the previous year.
• As of now, Crown has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $120.67, with significant involvement from institutional investors holding 90.93% of the stock.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Crown from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Crown in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.67.

Crown Stock Performance

CCK stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.96. 1,370,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,163,508. Crown has a twelve month low of $75.98 and a twelve month high of $109.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.76.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 27.15% and a net margin of 4.64%. Crown's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crown will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Crown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In related news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total value of $211,743.30. Following the sale, the vice president owned 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,345. This represents a 32.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Crown by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 143,252 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,846,000 after acquiring an additional 71,300 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 90,245 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,644 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Crown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $517,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Crown by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 12,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown during the fourth quarter worth $113,568,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.