Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Shares Sold by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS lowered its stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 565,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,603 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS owned approximately 0.47% of Crown worth $49,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CCK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Crown by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 735,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,838,000 after buying an additional 7,953 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Crown by 0.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 40,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Crown in the first quarter valued at about $1,007,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Crown by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,865,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,989,000 after buying an additional 33,829 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.18% of the company’s stock.

Crown Price Performance

CCK stock traded up $1.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.28. The stock had a trading volume of 124,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,617. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.00 and a 1-year high of $97.94. The stock has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Crown had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 27.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Crown’s payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 9,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total transaction of $902,476.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 123,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,382,323.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 1,914 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.67, for a total value of $173,542.38. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $680,025. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 9,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total value of $902,476.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 123,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,382,323.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCK. StockNews.com downgraded Crown from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Crown from $102.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Crown from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Crown from $108.00 to $124.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Crown from $106.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.38.

Crown Profile

Crown Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies rigid packaging products in Pennsylvania and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The Americas Beverage segment manufactures recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, and aluminum caps.