JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) to Neutral

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $53.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $46.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.05% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Silgan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup raised Silgan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Silgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

Silgan Price Performance

Silgan stock opened at $51.43 on Thursday. Silgan has a 12 month low of $38.11 and a 12 month high of $52.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.67.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.02. Silgan had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 5.25%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Silgan will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Silgan

In related news, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $1,412,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 172,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,104,021.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $1,412,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 172,133 shares in the company, valued at $8,104,021.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP B Frederik Prinzen sold 4,093 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total value of $195,809.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,520 shares in the company, valued at $216,236.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,651 shares of company stock valued at $2,804,226 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silgan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Silgan by 290.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Silgan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $152,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Silgan by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,580,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,248,000 after acquiring an additional 163,853 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Silgan by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 832,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,253,000 after acquiring an additional 17,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA increased its holdings in Silgan by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 172,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,314,000 after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Silgan Company Profile

Silgan Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells rigid packaging solutions for consumer goods products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Dispensing and Specialty Closures, Metal Containers, and Custom Containers. The Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment offers a range of metal and plastic closures, and dispensing systems for food, beverage, health care, garden, home, personal care, beauty products, and hard surface cleaning products, as well as capping/sealing equipment and detection systems.