MQS Management LLC Makes New $475,000 Investment in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CCK. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 103,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,163,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Mirova grew its position in Crown by 100.2% in the first quarter. Mirova now owns 16,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 8,114 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Crown by 88.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown by 28.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,566,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,134,000 after buying an additional 351,545 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Crown by 91.3% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 71,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,632,000 after buying an additional 33,918 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of CCK traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $84.90. 2,018,982 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,151,438. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.27. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.61 and a twelve month high of $95.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.22. Crown had a return on equity of 24.18% and a net margin of 3.68%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $637,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 608,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,737,630. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Crown news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 608,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,737,630. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.18, for a total transaction of $1,916,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 616,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,486,042.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,575,870. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCK has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Crown from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Crown from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Crown from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.64.

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.