Crown Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CCK)

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 5,233 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 374% compared to the average daily volume of 1,105 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Crown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Crown from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Crown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Crown from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Crown from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.58, for a total value of $679,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,416,653.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.58, for a total value of $679,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 578,678 shares in the company, valued at $52,416,653.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $2,598,675. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Crown in the first quarter worth $32,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Crown during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Crown by 190.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Price Performance

NYSE CCK opened at $93.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.85. Crown has a 12 month low of $69.61 and a 12 month high of $94.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. Crown’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Crown will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.82%.

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.