Alberta Investment Management Corp Reduces Stock Position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp decreased its position in Crown Holdings, Inc. by 68.5% in the first quarter, now holding 12,400 shares, valued at approximately $1.1 million.
• Crown's stock has received positive ratings from several analysts, with price targets raised to a consensus of $120.67, indicating a general outlook of "Moderate Buy".
• Crown Holdings recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp decreased its position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 68.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,400 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 27,002 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Crown were worth $1,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCK. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Crown by 155.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,793 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Crown by 110.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown in the first quarter worth $820,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Crown by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Crown by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,695 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Crown Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Crown stock traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.99. The company had a trading volume of 648,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,906. The firm has a market cap of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $102.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.98 and a fifty-two week high of $109.48.

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

Crown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Crown's dividend payout ratio is 21.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the company'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 value of $211,743.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $447,345. This represents a 32.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gerard H. Gifford sold 8,222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.93, for a total transaction of $846,290.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,585 shares in the company, valued at $12,617,674.05. This trade represents a 6.29% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CCK. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Crown in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Crown from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Baird R W lowered Crown from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.67.

Crown 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.