Crown (NYSE:CCK) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $81.09, but opened at $83.20. Crown shares last traded at $84.50, with a volume of 576,475 shares.

The industrial products company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.06. Crown had a net margin of 3.51% and a return on equity of 24.23%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Crown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CCK shares. UBS Group started coverage on Crown in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Crown from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other Crown news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.18, for a total value of $1,916,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 616,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,486,042.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Crown during the fourth quarter worth $109,826,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Crown by 474.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,312 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new position in Crown in the fourth quarter worth about $84,960,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Crown by 41.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,213,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $195,886,000 after acquiring an additional 654,082 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 46.7% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,414,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,449,000 after purchasing an additional 450,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.62.

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.