Crown (NYSE:CCK) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Crown (NYSE:CCK) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $105.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $109.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.91% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Crown from $113.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Crown from $107.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.62.

Crown Stock Up 1.6 %

CCK opened at $84.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 103.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.45 and a 200-day moving average of $87.86. Crown has a fifty-two week low of $69.61 and a fifty-two week high of $98.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.18. Crown had a net margin of 0.83% and a return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Crown will post 6.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown

In other news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total transaction of $958,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,970,007.78. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 563,678 shares in the company, valued at $54,524,572.94. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCK. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 121.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,109,000 after buying an additional 12,058 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown by 4.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 249,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,295 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Crown by 139.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,104,000 after acquiring an additional 71,227 shares in the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Crown by 7.8% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 100,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,676,000 after purchasing an additional 7,280 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Crown by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,095,382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,511,000 after purchasing an additional 176,959 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.