Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Short Interest Update

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,520,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the September 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Crown

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $643,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 586,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,323,381.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director James H. Miller sold 1,006 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total transaction of $96,173.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,734.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of Crown stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total transaction of $643,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 586,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,323,381.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,506 shares of company stock worth $3,392,349 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCK. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crown during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Crown by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Crown during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Crown by 190.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE CCK traded down $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $93.80. 1,402,067 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,127,190. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.26 and a 200 day moving average of $84.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Crown has a twelve month low of $69.61 and a twelve month high of $96.74.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.22. Crown had a return on equity of 23.96% and a net margin of 3.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Crown will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Crown’s payout ratio is currently 28.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Crown from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Crown from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

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.