Crown (NYSE:CCK) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

CCK has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Crown from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Crown from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Crown from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.47.

Crown Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE:CCK opened at $123.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Crown has a 1-year low of $91.31 and a 1-year high of $123.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.55.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.13. Crown had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 5.78%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. Crown’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Crown by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,977,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,186,000 after purchasing an additional 32,112 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Crown by 19.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,156,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $115,979,000 after buying an additional 186,849 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Crown in the 2nd quarter worth $112,578,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Crown in the second quarter worth about $99,537,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 548,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,937,000 after buying an additional 70,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Company Profile

Crown Holdings, Inc (NYSE: CCK) is a global packaging company that designs, manufactures and sells metal packaging products. Its portfolio includes beverage cans, food cans, aerosol cans, closures and other specialty packaging used by consumer goods, food and beverage, household, personal care and industrial customers.

The company serves customers across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and other international markets. Crown’s products are used for beer, soft drinks, energy drinks, canned foods, household products, personal care items and industrial materials.