Crane (NYSE:CR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Crane (NYSE:CR) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.80.

Several research firms recently issued reports on CR. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crane

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of Crane stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. The trade was a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crane

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter worth $515,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 328.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,765,000 after buying an additional 18,236 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,515,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,447,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $67,758,000 after buying an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CR opened at $156.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Crane has a 12 month low of $122.50 and a 12 month high of $188.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $162.02 and a 200-day moving average of $161.65. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Crane’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

About Crane

Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials.