Park Avenue Securities LLC Takes Position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Crown by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 702 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 285,980 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $23,224,000 after purchasing an additional 63,458 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in Crown in the fourth quarter valued at $2,607,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Crown by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 22,833 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new stake in Crown during the 4th quarter worth about $248,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total transaction of $211,743.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,345. The trade was a 32.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 135,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,096,358. The trade was 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CCK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Crown from $89.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.45.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of CCK traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.53. 883,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,232,197. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.84 and a fifty-two week high of $102.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $94.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.76.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Crown had a return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 3.59%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Crown's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.37%.

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.