California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 2,875 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,875 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Crown were worth $14,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Crown during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Crown by 190.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Crown during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Stock Performance

NYSE CCK opened at $86.51 on Friday. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.61 and a fifty-two week high of $94.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.22. Crown had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 23.96%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. Crown’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.82%.

Insider Transactions at Crown

In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.03, for a total value of $1,275,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 593,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,480,440.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director James H. Miller sold 9,000 shares of Crown stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $746,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,068,470.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 593,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,480,440.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $2,659,320. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CCK shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Crown from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Crown from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Crown from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.21.

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.