DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 21,817 Shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 521,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,817 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Crown were worth $43,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 803,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,062,000 after purchasing an additional 13,145 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new position in Crown during the 3rd quarter worth $277,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 73,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,062,000 after buying an additional 7,319 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Crown by 369.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 39,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,798,000 after buying an additional 31,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown in the third quarter valued at about $468,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CCK. UBS Group cut their price objective on Crown from $113.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Crown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Crown from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.00.

Crown Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:CCK opened at $89.99 on Friday. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.84 and a 52 week high of $98.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.08. Crown had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 25.12%. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. 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.