Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,978 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,597 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Crown worth $26,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,135,062 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $279,836,000 after acquiring an additional 167,252 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $128,464,000 after acquiring an additional 12,784 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,549,470 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $128,126,000 after acquiring an additional 279,596 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Crown by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,092,911 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $90,373,000 after purchasing an additional 264,803 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gerard H. Gifford sold 8,222 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 122,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,617,674.05. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 2,130 shares of Crown stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $447,345. The trade was a 32.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CCK. Baird R W cut shares of Crown from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Crown from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.67.

Crown Price Performance

CCK traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.38. The company had a trading volume of 966,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,790. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.74. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.98 and a twelve month high of $109.48. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $102.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.56.

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

Crown Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Crown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.