Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,224 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Crown by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,779,691 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $477,923,000 after purchasing an additional 102,789 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Crown by 10,138.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,105,118 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,762,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,791 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Crown by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,967,810 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $245,408,000 after acquiring an additional 283,014 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Crown by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 2,456,357 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $203,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Crown by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,705,081 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $140,720,000 after acquiring an additional 399,842 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Crown Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CCK traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 874,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,659. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.84 and a fifty-two week high of $100.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Crown had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 25.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Crown's payout ratio is 22.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $679,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 135,014 shares in the company, valued at $13,096,358. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Crown from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.45.

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.