AXQ Capital LP Takes Position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Crown by 9.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,787,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $842,556,000 after purchasing an additional 749,085 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Crown by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,779,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $477,923,000 after acquiring an additional 102,789 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Crown by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,000,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $383,559,000 after acquiring an additional 69,260 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Crown by 10,138.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,105,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $256,762,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Crown by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,967,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,408,000 after acquiring an additional 283,014 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Crown from $107.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on Crown from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Crown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Crown from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Crown Stock Performance

NYSE:CCK opened at $87.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.52. Crown Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.84 and a fifty-two week high of $98.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

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

Crown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Crown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Crown’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Crown Profile

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.