Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires 33,597 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. by 12.6% in Q1, now owning approximately 300,978 shares valued at around $26.87 million.
• Crown reported better-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $2.15, surpassing estimates by $0.29, and achieved a revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, with an investor payout ratio of 21.85%, scheduled for payment on August 21st.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,978 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,597 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Crown worth $26,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CCK. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Crown by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 332 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 397 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of Crown by 88.0% in the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 33.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis bought a new stake in Crown during the 4th quarter worth $91,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of Crown stock opened at $98.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.27. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.98 and a 1-year high of $109.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.74.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.29. Crown had a return on equity of 27.15% and a net margin of 4.64%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Crown's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.41, for a total transaction of $211,743.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $447,345. This represents a 32.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 directly owned 122,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,617,674.05. The trade was a 6.29% 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 Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CCK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Crown from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $129.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

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