Short Interest in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Expands By 34.3%

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, an increase of 34.3% from the November 15th total of 2,740,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Crown in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.62.

Crown Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CCK traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $87.88. 1,088,326 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,137,063. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Crown has a twelve month low of $69.61 and a twelve month high of $98.46. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 108.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.83.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 0.83%. On average, analysts anticipate that Crown will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Crown’s payout ratio is 123.46%.

Insider Activity at Crown

In other Crown news, Director James H. Miller sold 1,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total value of $96,173.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,734.40. This trade represents a 7.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total transaction of $697,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 571,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,119,554. This trade represents a 1.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,006 shares of company stock valued at $2,478,049 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Crown by 36.1% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Crown by 2.0% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Crown by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Company Profile

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.