Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 15,510 Shares of Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,158,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,510 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 1.08% of Silgan worth $60,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Silgan during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,975,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Silgan by 144.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 54,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after acquiring an additional 32,432 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Silgan during the fourth quarter valued at about $620,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Silgan by 11.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,495,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,509,000 after purchasing an additional 157,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Silgan in the 4th quarter worth about $1,142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

Silgan Price Performance

Shares of Silgan stock opened at $51.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.14 and a 12-month high of $58.14.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. Silgan had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 4.72%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Silgan Holdings Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Silgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Silgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Silgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Silgan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Silgan from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Silgan from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Silgan from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Silgan from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Adam J. Greenlee sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.73, for a total value of $6,841,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,441,880.36. This represents a 35.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $1,064,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 152,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,096,518.26. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Silgan Profile

Silgan Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells rigid packaging solutions for consumer goods products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Dispensing and Specialty Closures, Metal Containers, and Custom Containers. The Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment offers a range of metal and plastic closures, and dispensing systems for food, beverage, health care, garden, home, personal care, beauty products, and hard surface cleaning products, as well as capping/sealing equipment and detection systems.