Vestcor Inc Invests $429,000 in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Silgan in the third quarter worth $2,975,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Silgan by 144.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 54,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 32,432 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in Silgan during the 4th quarter worth $620,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Silgan by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,495,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,509,000 after purchasing an additional 157,160 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Silgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,142,000. 70.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Silgan Stock Performance

NYSE SLGN opened at $49.83 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.80. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.71. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.14 and a 1 year high of $58.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Silgan Holdings Inc. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Silgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Silgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Silgan’s dividend payout ratio is 31.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Silgan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Silgan from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Silgan from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Silgan from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Silgan from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Silgan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.22.

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.