Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Silgan from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Silgan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Silgan from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Silgan from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Silgan from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Silgan presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Silgan Stock Performance

NYSE SLGN traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 843,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,086. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.54. Silgan has a 52 week low of $38.11 and a 52 week high of $52.84. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. Silgan had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Silgan’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Silgan will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Silgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP B Frederik Prinzen sold 4,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $195,809.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,236.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP B Frederik Prinzen sold 4,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $195,809.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,236.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $1,412,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 172,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,104,021.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,651 shares of company stock worth $2,804,226. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Silgan by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Silgan during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Silgan by 2,838.5% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Silgan by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Silgan by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

About Silgan

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.