Crown (NYSE:CCK) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Crown (NYSE:CCK) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Crown from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $110.00 target price on shares of Crown in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.62.

Crown Stock Up 1.0 %

CCK opened at $82.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Crown has a 12 month low of $69.61 and a 12 month high of $98.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.62. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.83.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Crown had a net margin of 0.83% and a return on equity of 24.57%. As a group, research analysts predict that Crown will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crown

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.73, for a total transaction of $725,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 563,678 shares in the company, valued at $54,524,572.94. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total transaction of $958,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,402 shares in the company, valued at $10,970,007.78. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,381,875. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Crown by 110.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Crown by 156.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Crown during the third quarter worth $44,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crown during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Crown during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. 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.