Crown (NYSE:CCK) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Crown from $106.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $102.00 to $114.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $97.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $88.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $103.38.

Crown Stock Down 0.7 %

CCK opened at $89.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. Crown has a 12 month low of $66.00 and a 12 month high of $100.39.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 27.45% and a net margin of 3.84%. Crown’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 9,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total value of $902,476.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 123,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,382,323.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 9,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total transaction of $902,476.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 123,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,382,323.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 1,914 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.67, for a total transaction of $173,542.38. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $680,025. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Crown in the second quarter valued at about $1,477,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Crown by 279.9% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 176,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,292,000 after purchasing an additional 129,703 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Crown by 4.5% in the second quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 2,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Crown by 86.3% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,180,000 after buying an additional 54,286 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its stake in Crown by 55.4% during the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 65,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,726,000 after buying an additional 23,507 shares during the period. 95.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Crown

Crown Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies rigid packaging products in Pennsylvania and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The Americas Beverage segment manufactures recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, and aluminum caps.