Insider Buying: Crane (NYSE:CR) CEO Buys 1,000 Shares of Stock

Crane (NYSE:CR) CEO Max Mitchell bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $183.71 per share, for a total transaction of $183,710.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 410,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,443,634.57. This represents a 0.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Crane Stock Up 1.6%

CR traded up $2.87 on Monday, reaching $185.51. 454,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 502,975. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.54. Crane has a 52-week low of $127.04 and a 52-week high of $214.31.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.10. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $581.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $572.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Crane has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.550-6.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CR shares. Wolfe Research set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Crane and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Crane from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Crane in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Crane in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $224.00.

Institutional Trading of Crane

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. acquired a new position in Crane in the third quarter worth $1,651,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Crane by 276.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,402 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 3,967 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Crane by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,182 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Crane by 86.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 136,413 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,119,000 after purchasing an additional 63,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crane by 5,159.8% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 232,851 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,216,000 after purchasing an additional 228,424 shares in the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crane Company Profile

Crane Co, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products serving customers around the world. The company operates through two primary segments: Aerospace & Electronics and Engineered Materials. Its Aerospace & Electronics division designs and produces valves, fittings, manifolds, and filtration systems for aircraft fuel, hydraulics, and environmental control systems. The Engineered Materials segment focuses on advanced polymers, heat exchangers, and specialized composite solutions for industries including chemical processing, semiconductor manufacturing, and power generation.

With roots dating back to its founding in 1855 in Chicago by R.T.