Crown (NYSE:CCK) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Crown (NYSE:CCK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CCK. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Crown in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crown from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Crown in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Crown in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Crown from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.43.

Crown Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CCK stock opened at $113.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Crown has a 12-month low of $75.98 and a 12-month high of $115.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $103.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.73.

Crown (NYSE:CCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.05. Crown had a return on equity of 26.68% and a net margin of 5.97%.The company had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Crown has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.300 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.800 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Crown will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Djalma Novaes, Jr. sold 19,754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $1,995,549.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,782,877.82. This represents a 16.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy J. Donahue sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $787,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,634,780. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,754 shares of company stock worth $6,720,634. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCK. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown by 103.1% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Crown by 105.0% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 289 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Crown during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Crown

Here are the key news stories impacting Crown this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and strong EBITDA: Crown reported Q4 results that topped revenue and EPS expectations and investors reacted to record 2025 EBITDA, a key operating metric that supported earlier upside in the stock. Why Crown Holdings (CCK) Is Up 9.5% After Record 2025 EBITDA and Mixed Net Income Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifting price targets: Several firms raised targets — Truist to $135 (buy), Mizuho to $130 (outperform), and Wells Fargo to $120 (equal weight) — signaling continued analyst conviction in Crown’s longer‑term growth despite near‑term noise. Benzinga coverage of analyst moves TickerReport on Wells Fargo target
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call & transcripts available for detail: Management commentary and the full Q4 earnings call transcript provide detail on volumes, pricing, and capital spending — useful for dissecting margin and cash‑flow drivers. Earnings call transcript Yahoo Q4 transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Business mix note — beverage can demand: Coverage highlights robust beverage can demand driving growth, but also flags higher startup costs for new capacity that are pressuring near‑term margins. CCK Q4 Deep Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance slightly below consensus: Crown set FY‑2026 EPS guidance at $7.90–$8.30 and Q1 at $1.70–$1.80, both modestly under Street expectations — a key reason the stock reversed after the initial rally. Earnings & guidance summary
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst action — downgrade despite higher target: JPMorgan downgraded CCK from overweight to neutral even while raising its price target, illustrating divergent views on near‑term risk vs. longer‑term upside. That mixed signal likely added to intraday selling pressure. Benzinga on JPMorgan action

Crown Company Profile

Crown Holdings, Inc is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products for consumer goods markets. The company designs, manufactures and sells metal packaging for beverage, food, household, personal care and specialty products. Its portfolio includes aluminum and steel beverage cans, steel food cans, aluminum aerosols, metal closures and ends, offering customers end-to-end solutions from design and prototyping to large-scale production.

Founded in 1919 as the Crown Cork & Seal Company, Crown has grown through strategic acquisitions and investments in advanced manufacturing technologies.