Short Interest in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Increases By 10.2%

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, a growth of 10.2% from the July 15th total of 2,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Crown from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Crown from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Crown from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Crown from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Crown from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.21.

Crown Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CCK traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $89.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,054,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,857. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $80.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Crown has a 52-week low of $69.61 and a 52-week high of $94.49.

Crown (NYSE:CCK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Crown had a return on equity of 23.96% and a net margin of 3.68%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Crown will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Crown's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $643,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 586,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,323,381.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.03, for a total value of $1,275,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 593,678 shares in the company, valued at $50,480,440.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.85, for a total value of $643,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 586,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,323,381.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,665,695 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 153,739 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,185,000 after purchasing an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Crown by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,825,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,089,029,000 after purchasing an additional 173,460 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Crown by 245.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 62,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,784,000 after purchasing an additional 44,630 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Crown by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,320,502 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $121,614,000 after purchasing an additional 44,195 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,925,000. Hedge funds and other 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.