Barnett & Company Inc. Sells 3,400 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Key Points

• Barnett & Company Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. by 53.8%, owning 2,925 shares worth approximately $261,000 after selling 3,400 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Crown, with Invesco Ltd. boosting its position by an impressive 412.2% during the same period.
• Crown Holdings reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.15, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.86, indicating a year-over-year revenue growth of 3.6%.

Barnett & Company Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 53.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Barnett & Company Inc.'s holdings in Crown were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CCM Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown during the first quarter valued at approximately $522,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,360,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 412.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,719,296 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $153,464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,624 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Crown by 82.6% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Crown by 188.4% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 77,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,873,000 after purchasing an additional 50,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Crown in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W downgraded Crown from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Crown from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.67.

Insider Transactions at Crown

In other Crown news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,585 shares in the company, valued at $12,617,674.05. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the business'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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCK traded up $1.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.87. 970,386 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,292,232. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.74. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.98 and a 52-week high of $109.48.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Crown had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 27.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Holdings, Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Crown's payout ratio is currently 21.85%.

About Crown

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.