Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Crown were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Crown by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Crown by 156.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Crown in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Crown by 84.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Crown by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Stock Up 2.2 %

Crown stock opened at $89.01 on Friday. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.84 and a twelve month high of $98.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.59 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Crown Holdings, Inc. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Crown’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on CCK shares. StockNews.com upgraded Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Crown from $113.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Crown from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Crown from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.00.

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.