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 note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W cut shares of Crown from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $129.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Crown from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Crown from $130.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Crown in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.62.

Crown Stock Performance

NYSE:CCK opened at $94.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.42. Crown has a twelve month low of $75.98 and a twelve month high of $109.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Crown had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 27.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.99 earnings per share. Crown has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.650-1.75 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.700-7.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Crown will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. Crown’s payout ratio is 21.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.52, for a total value of $1,306,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 449,056 shares in the company, valued at $45,139,109.12. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gerard H. Gifford sold 8,222 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.93, for a total transaction of $846,290.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 122,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,617,674.05. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,222 shares of company stock worth $5,873,770. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Crown by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,242,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,883,000 after purchasing an additional 149,339 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Crown by 155.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Crown by 110.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Crown in the 1st quarter worth about $762,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Crown in the 1st quarter worth about $820,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

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.