Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,650,000 shares, an increase of 12.0% from the August 31st total of 3,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christy L. Kalaus sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.90, for a total transaction of $46,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $459,546.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Crown by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,313,314 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $397,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,722 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Crown by 5,439.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,081,566 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062,041 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Crown by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,232,142 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $574,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,524 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Crown by 155.6% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,078,563 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $134,917,000 after acquiring an additional 656,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Crown by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,429,818 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $131,787,000 after acquiring an additional 629,607 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.84% of the company's stock.

Crown Stock Up 2.7 %

Crown (NYSE:CCK – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 20th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.07. Crown had a positive return on equity of 40.47% and a negative net margin of 3.07%. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Crown's dividend payout ratio is presently -29.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Crown from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Crown from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Crown from $147.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Crown from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Crown from $165.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.45.

About Crown

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Crown Holdings, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells packaging products and equipment for consumer goods and industrial products in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products for consumer goods, including steel and aluminum cans for food and beverage industries. The company also provides products for industrial products, such as steel and plastic strap consumables and equipment, paper-based protective packaging, and plastic film consumables and equipment to metals, food and beverage, construction, agricultural, corrugated, and general industries.

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