Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) Short Interest Update

Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a drop of 34.7% from the March 15th total of 3,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 799,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Silgan news, EVP Robert B. Lewis sold 20,000 shares of Silgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $1,064,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 152,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,096,518.26. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam J. Greenlee sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,441,880.36. This trade represents 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silgan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLGN. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Silgan by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 24,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Silgan by 5.9% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Silgan by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. now owns 5,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Silgan by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 36,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Silgan by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silgan Price Performance

NYSE:SLGN traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $49.33. 647,798 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 650,134. Silgan has a 1 year low of $41.14 and a 1 year high of $58.14. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. Silgan had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 4.72%. Sell-side analysts expect that Silgan will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Silgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Silgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Silgan’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Silgan Company 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.