JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SLGN) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,795,781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 656,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 5.43% of Silgan worth $301,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Silgan in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. 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. bought a new stake in Silgan during the third quarter worth $154,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Silgan by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. 70.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Silgan Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:SLGN opened at $50.69 on Monday. Silgan Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.14 and a 1 year high of $58.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Silgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Silgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Silgan’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Silgan from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Silgan from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Silgan from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Silgan from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Silgan from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 an average target price of $64.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.