Crown Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CCK)

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 11,877 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 855% compared to the average daily volume of 1,244 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Crown from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Crown from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Crown from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho set a $110.00 target price on Crown in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.62.

Insider Activity at Crown

In other news, COO Gerard H. Gifford sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.89, for a total transaction of $958,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,970,007.78. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $697,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 571,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,119,554. This represents a 1.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,381,875. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Crown by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Crown by 3.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 941,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,949,000 after buying an additional 32,909 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Crown by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 16,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 5,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Stock Performance

CCK traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $81.02. The stock had a trading volume of 217,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,439. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Crown has a 12-month low of $69.61 and a 12-month high of $98.46. The company has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.83.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.18. Crown had a return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 0.83%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 123.46%.

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.