Crown (NYSE:CCK) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $127.00 to $126.00. The stock had previously closed at $114.89, but opened at $106.09. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Crown shares last traded at $110.73, with a volume of 181,606 shares changing hands.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Crown from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $121.00 price target on shares of Crown in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Crown from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Crown in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Crown from $129.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crown presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.67.

Key Stories Impacting Crown

Here are the key news stories impacting Crown this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Crown reported adjusted EPS of $2.39 versus the $2.26 consensus estimate and revenue of $3.71 billion versus expectations of $3.46 billion. Revenue increased 15.9% year over year, while adjusted EPS rose from $2.24 in the prior-year quarter. Crown Holdings Q3 earnings and revenue results
• Positive Sentiment: Higher can demand supported the quarter. Global beverage-can volumes grew more than 6%, helping offset rising costs. Crown also generated $225 million in net income, up from $214 million a year earlier, and repurchased $81 million of stock during the quarter. Crown Holdings reports higher profit as can volumes offset rising costs
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation remains a potential catalyst. Coverage published after the results argues that CCK could still be about 16% undervalued, despite its recent 55% advance, suggesting investors may continue to respond favorably to the earnings growth and cash-flow outlook. Crown Holdings could be 16 percent undervalued
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s outlook is solid but not aggressive. Full-year adjusted EPS guidance is $8.35-$8.45, broadly around analyst expectations, while fourth-quarter adjusted EPS guidance of $1.63-$1.73 gives investors a more cautious near-term outlook. Adjusted free cash flow is expected to reach at least $950 million. Crown Holdings fourth-quarter guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its price target and kept an Equal Weight rating. The firm reduced its target from $127 to $126, signaling limited conviction that the recent rally will continue even though the target remains above the current trading level. Wells Fargo Crown Holdings analyst rating

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Crown by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,977,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,186,000 after purchasing an additional 32,112 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Crown by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,156,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $115,979,000 after buying an additional 186,849 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Crown in the second quarter valued at approximately $112,578,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Crown in the second quarter valued at approximately $99,537,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 14.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 548,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,937,000 after buying an additional 70,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Crown Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $112.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.29.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.13. Crown had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 27.33%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Crown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.14%.

About Crown

Crown Holdings, Inc (NYSE: CCK) is a global packaging company that designs, manufactures and sells metal packaging products. Its portfolio includes beverage cans, food cans, aerosol cans, closures and other specialty packaging used by consumer goods, food and beverage, household, personal care and industrial customers.

The company serves customers across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and other international markets. Crown’s products are used for beer, soft drinks, energy drinks, canned foods, household products, personal care items and industrial materials.