Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Position in Crown Holdings, Inc. $CCK

Key Points

• Franklin Resources increased its stake in Crown by 5.3% in Q3, owning 2,979,842 shares (2.58% of the company) valued at about $287.8 million.
• Crown beat Q4 expectations with $1.74 EPS (vs. $1.69 est.) and $3.13 billion in revenue (vs. $2.99B est.), and set FY2026 guidance of $7.90–$8.30 in EPS and Q1 guidance of $1.70–$1.80.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35 (annualized $1.40, yield ~1.3%) from $0.26, with an ex-dividend date of March 17 and payment on March 31.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,979,842 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 149,700 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.58% of Crown worth $287,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crown by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 264 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown by 105.0% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 289 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Crown by 45.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 356 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Crown in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Crown in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CCK stock opened at $103.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.04. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.98 and a twelve month high of $116.62.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. Crown had a net margin of 5.97% and a return on equity of 26.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Crown has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.300 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.800 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Crown's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Crown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.33%.

Insider Activity at Crown

In other news, COO Djalma Novaes, Jr. sold 29,734 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.80, for a total transaction of $3,413,463.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 88,052 shares in the company, valued at $10,108,369.60. This trade represents a 25.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.67, for a total value of $830,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 474,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,539,033.12. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 101,988 shares of company stock valued at $10,964,122 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CCK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Crown from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Crown in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Crown from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on Crown from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Crown in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $125.86.

Crown Company Profile

Crown Holdings, Inc is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products for consumer goods markets. The company designs, manufactures and sells metal packaging for beverage, food, household, personal care and specialty products. Its portfolio includes aluminum and steel beverage cans, steel food cans, aluminum aerosols, metal closures and ends, offering customers end-to-end solutions from design and prototyping to large-scale production.

Founded in 1919 as the Crown Cork & Seal Company, Crown has grown through strategic acquisitions and investments in advanced manufacturing technologies.

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