Invesco Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Crane (NYSE:CR)

Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,425,015 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 138,279 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 2.49% of Crane worth $216,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Crane by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 241 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Crane by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 583 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 4th quarter worth about $101,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crane Stock Performance

CR opened at $140.81 on Friday. Crane has a 1-year low of $127.04 and a 1-year high of $188.52. The company has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $156.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Crane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.80.

Insider Activity

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crane Profile

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.