JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Holdings in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,795,781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 656,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.05% of Silgan worth $301,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Silgan during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Silgan by 1,229.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Silgan by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Silgan in the third quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Silgan by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Silgan

In related news, CEO Adam J. Greenlee sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.73, for a total value of $6,841,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,332 shares in the company, valued at $12,441,880.36. This represents a 35.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 20,000 shares of Silgan stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 152,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,096,518.26. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Silgan Stock Performance

Shares of SLGN opened at $50.69 on Monday. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $41.14 and a one year high of $58.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.77. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. Silgan had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 4.72%. On average, analysts anticipate that Silgan Holdings Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Silgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Silgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SLGN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Silgan from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Silgan from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on Silgan from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upped their price target on Silgan from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Silgan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.