Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia significantly reduced its holdings in Crown Holdings, Inc. by 90.2%, dropping its shares from 78,942 to 7,754 in the first quarter.
• Crown Holdings reported $2.15 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.86, with a revenue increase of 3.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a $0.26 quarterly dividend, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.04 and a yield of 1.0%.

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 90.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,754 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 71,188 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Crown were worth $692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CCK. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Crown by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Crown by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 34,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Crown by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position 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 valued at $1,222,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total value of $211,743.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $447,345. This trade represents a 32.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Gerard H. Gifford sold 8,222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.93, for a total transaction of $846,290.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 122,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,617,674.05. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Crown Price Performance

CCK stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.70. The stock had a trading volume of 167,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,289,778. 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 twelve month low of $75.98 and a twelve month high of $109.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $103.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.69.

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

Crown Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Loop Capital raised their price target on Crown from $129.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Crown from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Crown in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Crown from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.67.

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.