Crown (NYSE:CCK) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $81.09, but opened at $83.20. Crown shares last traded at $84.50, with a volume of 576,475 shares traded.

The industrial products company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.06. Crown had a return on equity of 25.75% and a net margin of 3.75%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Crown’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Crown from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Crown in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Crown in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Crown from $110.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Crown from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.21.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown in the 4th quarter valued at $109,826,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Crown by 474.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,214,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,312 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Crown in the fourth quarter worth about $84,960,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Crown by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,213,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $195,886,000 after purchasing an additional 654,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,414,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,449,000 after purchasing an additional 450,087 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.60 and its 200-day moving average is $82.60.

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.