StockNews.com Upgrades Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) to “Buy”

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Silgan from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Silgan from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Silgan from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Silgan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Silgan from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $46.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Silgan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Silgan Stock Performance

Shares of SLGN opened at $51.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.67. Silgan has a 52 week low of $38.11 and a 52 week high of $52.84.

Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Silgan had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 5.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Silgan will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Silgan

In other Silgan news, VP Stacey J. Mcgrath sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.04, for a total transaction of $78,464.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $563,714.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silgan

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLGN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Silgan by 256.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Silgan during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Silgan by 2,838.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Silgan by 109.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Silgan by 69.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.25% of the company’s stock.

About Silgan

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.