JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades Crown (NYSE:CCK) to Neutral

Crown (NYSE:CCK) was downgraded by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $155.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $112.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 37.12% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CCK. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research set a $115.00 price target on Crown in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Crown from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Crown from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Crown from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.43.

Crown Stock Down 1.0%

CCK opened at $113.04 on Friday. Crown has a 12 month low of $75.98 and a 12 month high of $115.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.73.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.05. Crown had a net margin of 5.97% and a return on equity of 26.68%. The business had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Crown has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.300 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.800 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Crown will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crown

In other Crown news, COO Djalma Novaes, Jr. sold 19,754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total value of $1,995,549.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,782,877.82. This represents a 16.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $787,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 482,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,634,780. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 64,754 shares of company stock worth $6,720,634 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 21,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 6,265 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Crown by 542.2% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 858,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,377,000 after buying an additional 724,620 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in Crown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 212,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,830,000 after buying an additional 22,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Crown News

Here are the key news stories impacting Crown this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and strong EBITDA: Crown reported Q4 results that topped revenue and EPS expectations and investors reacted to record 2025 EBITDA, a key operating metric that supported earlier upside in the stock. Why Crown Holdings (CCK) Is Up 9.5% After Record 2025 EBITDA and Mixed Net Income Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifting price targets: Several firms raised targets — Truist to $135 (buy), Mizuho to $130 (outperform), and Wells Fargo to $120 (equal weight) — signaling continued analyst conviction in Crown’s longer‑term growth despite near‑term noise. Benzinga coverage of analyst moves TickerReport on Wells Fargo target
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call & transcripts available for detail: Management commentary and the full Q4 earnings call transcript provide detail on volumes, pricing, and capital spending — useful for dissecting margin and cash‑flow drivers. Earnings call transcript Yahoo Q4 transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Business mix note — beverage can demand: Coverage highlights robust beverage can demand driving growth, but also flags higher startup costs for new capacity that are pressuring near‑term margins. CCK Q4 Deep Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance slightly below consensus: Crown set FY‑2026 EPS guidance at $7.90–$8.30 and Q1 at $1.70–$1.80, both modestly under Street expectations — a key reason the stock reversed after the initial rally. Earnings & guidance summary
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst action — downgrade despite higher target: JPMorgan downgraded CCK from overweight to neutral even while raising its price target, illustrating divergent views on near‑term risk vs. longer‑term upside. That mixed signal likely added to intraday selling pressure. Benzinga on JPMorgan action

About Crown

Crown Holdings, Inc is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products for consumer goods markets. The company designs, manufactures and sells metal packaging for beverage, food, household, personal care and specialty products. Its portfolio includes aluminum and steel beverage cans, steel food cans, aluminum aerosols, metal closures and ends, offering customers end-to-end solutions from design and prototyping to large-scale production.

Founded in 1919 as the Crown Cork & Seal Company, Crown has grown through strategic acquisitions and investments in advanced manufacturing technologies.