Citigroup Inc. Acquires 4,839 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK – Get Rating) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Crown were worth $3,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Crown in the 1st quarter valued at $143,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Crown by 9.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in Crown by 30.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown during the 1st quarter worth about $392,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of Crown by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 62,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,318,000 after acquiring an additional 19,046 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James H. Miller sold 9,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.86, for a total value of $789,198.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,680,312.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CCK. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $103.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. TheStreet raised Crown from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Crown from $86.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Crown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.60.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCK opened at $81.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.05. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.00 and a 52 week high of $110.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Crown (NYSE:CCK – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Crown had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 31.41%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 10th. Crown’s payout ratio is currently 18.90%.

About Crown

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Crown Holdings, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of packaging products and equipment for consumer goods. The firm offers aerosol cans, beverage, promotional, and transit packaging, closures and capping, and food cans. It operates through the following segments: Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging.