Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 11,980 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Holdings, Inc. by 371.6% during the first quarter, acquiring 11,980 additional shares.
• Crown recently reported an EPS of $2.15 for its quarterly earnings, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.6%.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.26 represents a 1.1% yield, with a dividend payout ratio of 21.85% and a scheduled payment date of August 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 371.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,204 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,980 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Crown were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Crown by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 332 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Crown by 161.2% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 397 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in Crown by 88.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 752 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Crown by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Crown in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other Crown news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of Crown stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total value of $211,743.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $447,345. The trade was 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 link. Also, CAO Gerard H. Gifford sold 8,222 shares of the 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 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCK traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,460,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,679. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $102.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.27. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $75.98 and a one year high of $109.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.06.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Crown had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 27.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CCK. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Crown from $129.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Crown from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Baird R W cut Crown from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.