Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Boosts Stake in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Crown were worth $4,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Crown by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown by 84.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Crown by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Crown by 325.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Stock Performance

Shares of CCK stock opened at $84.83 on Wednesday. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.84 and a 52-week high of $98.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.65.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.08. Crown had a return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 3.59%. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is 29.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CCK. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Crown from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Crown from $107.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Crown from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Crown from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

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.