Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

Xponance Inc. grew its position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Silgan were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLGN. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Silgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Silgan by 1,229.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Silgan by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Silgan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Silgan by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on SLGN shares. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Silgan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Silgan from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Silgan from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Silgan from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Silgan from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.22.

Insider Activity at Silgan

In related news, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $1,064,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 152,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,096,518.26. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam J. Greenlee sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.73, for a total value of $6,841,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,441,880.36. The trade was a 35.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Silgan Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE SLGN opened at $51.07 on Thursday. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.14 and a 52 week high of $58.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.71.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. Silgan had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 19.70%. As a group, research analysts expect that Silgan Holdings Inc. will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Silgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Silgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Silgan’s payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Silgan Profile

Silgan Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells rigid packaging solutions for consumer goods products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Dispensing and Specialty Closures, Metal Containers, and Custom Containers. The Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment offers a range of metal and plastic closures, and dispensing systems for food, beverage, health care, garden, home, personal care, beauty products, and hard surface cleaning products, as well as capping/sealing equipment and detection systems.