Morgan Stanley Upgrades Crown (NYSE:CCK) to "Overweight"

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $105.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock, down from their previous price target of $109.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Crown from $105.00 to $88.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Crown from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital upped their price target on Crown from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.62.

Crown Stock Performance

NYSE:CCK traded up $3.84 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $82.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,780,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,192,725. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.21. Crown has a 12-month low of $69.61 and a 12-month high of $98.46.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. Crown had a return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 0.83%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Crown will post 6.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Crown's dividend payout ratio is presently 123.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.73, for a total transaction of $725,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 563,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,524,572.94. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total value of $958,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,402 shares in the company, valued at $10,970,007.78. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its position in shares of Crown by 153.0% during the second quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,289,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,697,000 after buying an additional 1,989,374 shares during the period. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 269.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 1,455,752 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $139,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062,001 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Crown by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,352,711 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $129,698,000 after acquiring an additional 751,530 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,787,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $842,556,000 after purchasing an additional 749,085 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Crown by 31.5% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,976,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $147,032,000 after purchasing an additional 473,000 shares in the last quarter. 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.