Hancock Whitney Corp Makes New Investment in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $960,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Silgan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Silgan by 23.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,327 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 10,936 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Silgan by 32.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,182 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Silgan during the third quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Silgan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,975,000. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Silgan Price Performance

NYSE:SLGN traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $51.73. 702,194 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 658,737. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.81. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.14 and a 12 month high of $58.14. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $50.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. Silgan had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 4.72%. Sell-side analysts expect that Silgan Holdings Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Silgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Silgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Silgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SLGN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Silgan from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Silgan from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Silgan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Silgan from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Silgan from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.78.

Insider Activity

In other Silgan news, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 20,000 shares of Silgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $1,064,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 152,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,096,518.26. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam J. Greenlee sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.73, for a total value of $6,841,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,441,880.36. The trade was a 35.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Silgan 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.