Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK). The company's stock saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. While good news for shareholders, the company has traded much higher in the past year. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Today we will analyse the most recent data on Crown Holdings’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

Check out our latest analysis for Crown Holdings

Is Crown Holdings Still Cheap?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to our price multiple model, where we compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 24.01x is currently trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 22.11x, which means if you buy Crown Holdings today, you’d be paying a relatively sensible price for it. And if you believe that Crown Holdings should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. Furthermore, Crown Holdings’s share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This may mean it is less likely for the stock to fall lower from natural market volatility, which suggests less opportunities to buy moving forward.

What does the future of Crown Holdings look like?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 84% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Crown Holdings. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? CCK’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at CCK? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on CCK, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for CCK, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Crown Holdings.

If you are no longer interested in Crown Holdings, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.