Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 178,273 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. by 30.9% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.65% of the company worth $67.5 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds, including Larson Financial Group and Parallel Advisors, also boosted their holdings in Crown, with institutional investors now owning 90.93% of the company's stock.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus of "Moderate Buy" for Crown, with target prices raised by firms such as Loop Capital and UBS, reflecting positive sentiment about its performance.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 756,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 178,273 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.65% of Crown worth $67,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 155.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,793 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Crown by 110.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Crown during the first quarter worth $820,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Crown by 4.2% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Crown by 1.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,695 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CCK. Baird R W downgraded shares of Crown from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $120.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gerard H. Gifford sold 8,222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.93, for a total value of $846,290.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 122,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,617,674.05. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of Crown stock traded down $0.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 824,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,645. The business's 50-day moving average price is $103.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.01. The firm has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 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%. Crown's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Crown's payout ratio is presently 21.85%.

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.