Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Invests $2.51 Million in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,315 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,507,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown in the third quarter worth approximately $861,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Crown by 48.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 16,575 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 5,397 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 121.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,997 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,109,000 after purchasing an additional 12,058 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Crown by 3.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 941,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $87,949,000 after acquiring an additional 32,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Crown by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 571 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCK. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised Crown from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Crown from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Crown from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 7,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $679,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 135,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,096,358. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:CCK traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $96.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,491,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,632. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $70.84 and a one year high of $98.48. The business's 50-day moving average is $87.93 and its 200-day moving average is $88.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.79.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Crown's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.37%.

Crown Company 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.