Candriam S.C.A. Sells 212,693 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 55.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 171,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 212,693 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Crown were worth $14,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Crown by 121.3% during 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. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Crown by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 249,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,295 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown by 7.8% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 100,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,676,000 after acquiring an additional 7,280 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,095,382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,511,000 after purchasing an additional 176,959 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Crown by 7.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,676,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $544,301,000 after purchasing an additional 412,973 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Crown from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Crown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Crown from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Crown from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Crown Price Performance

NYSE CCK opened at $89.29 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.84 and a 12-month high of $98.46.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.08. Crown had a return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 3.59%. Analysts forecast that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

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.