Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Short Interest Up 6.3% in September

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,520,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the September 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Crown Stock Down 0.3 %

CCK traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $93.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,402,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,127,190. Crown has a 1 year low of $69.61 and a 1 year high of $96.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.26 and its 200-day moving average is $84.17.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 23.96% and a net margin of 3.68%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Crown will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is 28.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Crown from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Crown from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Crown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Insider Transactions at Crown

In other Crown news, Director James H. Miller sold 1,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total value of $96,173.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,424 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,734.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $643,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 586,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,323,381.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Miller sold 1,006 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total value of $96,173.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,734.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,506 shares of company stock worth $3,392,349 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown in the 3rd quarter worth about $682,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 21,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown during the third quarter valued at approximately $623,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Crown by 3.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 11,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Crown by 3.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 45,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

About Crown

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.